


Completely & Stupidly, forever and ever

by BexVanity



Category: Emmerdale, vanity - Fandom
Genre: Canon LGBTQ Character, F/F, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Female Character, LGBTQ Themes, Love, Vanity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:48:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 47,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26025967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BexVanity/pseuds/BexVanity
Summary: When it comes to love, Charity Dingle has had her fair share of ups and downs, but it is undeniable that what she has with her fiance; Vanessa, is something truly special.After a drunken night in The Woolpack cellar threw these two women together, a kiss was shared and a love blossomed. But that's not to say that life is easy when they're just trying to live each day as it comes as two mum's trying their best in a small village with big drama.Follow our favourite pub owner and tiny blonde rocket woman as they plan what they hope to be the best day of their lives; Their Mrs and Mrs big white wedding.Will they get to have the perfect day or will chaos break out in true Dingle fashion?
Relationships: Charity Dingle/Vanessa Woodfield
Comments: 6
Kudos: 127





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1. Charity As the cool spring time sun shone through the cotton curtains of Jacob’s Fold, daylight lit up Charity and Vanessa’s bedroom revealing another beautiful day in Emmerdale. Already awake and struggling to think up a plausible excuse not to go to work, Charity sighed and rolled over to snuggle up to a stirring Vanessa. “Morning” She whispered gently into Vanessa’s ear as her eyes began to flutter open. “Ow, my hair” Vanessa murmured as Charity’s elbow dug heavily into the waves of blonde hair that jutted out across the pillowcase. “Sorry” Charity voiced, quickly shifting her weight so that Vanessa could wriggle free. “Good Morning” Vanessa then replied with a yawn as she nuzzled her head upon Charity’s chest. Her voice was quiet and soft as she slowly came around and took advantage of her fiance’s embrace. “You’re nice and warm” Vanessa cooed with a small smile growing upon her face. “Yeah, not for long though babe, I should have left ten minutes ago, Chas is gonna kill me if I’m late again” Charity said, quickly, pressing her lips against Vanessa’s forehead before forcing herself out of bed. Vanessa groaned as her head flopped back down onto her pillow, and gently rubbed her eyes with her balled up fists. “Do you have to go?” She asked with a pout, “If we want to keep a roof over our heads I do,” Charity shrugged, suddenly feeling like the responsible one in their relationship, which didn’t happen often, and almost always only happened for a few minutes early in the morning. “Are the kids up?” Vanessa asked, not hearing the sound of toddler babble coming from the room next to theirs, or the obnoxious booming of the radio from downstairs that would signal that Noah and Sarah were up and getting ready for school. “Not yet, it’s only seven. I’m supposed to be opening up early ready for the drayman for Jimmy’s surprise party”, “You mean Jimmy’s non surprise surprise party?” Vanessa laughed. “Yeah well, it would take a brave man to let Nicola know that her weeks of secret planning have been ruined, and let’s face it, Jimmy is not that man”, “Aw” Vanessa mouthed disapprovingly of Charity’s bad mouthing of Jimmy, but let it slide. Instead she sat up and pulled the duvet off her lap, reached for her dressing gown and watched as Charity began dressing in front of the mirror. Charity’s short blonde bob swayed across her bare shoulders as she stepped into her jeans, wearing only her bra. “Do these look ok?” She asked hastily as she grimaced at her reflection. “Oh yes” Vanessa replied, biting her lip as she walked over and put her arms around Charity’s waist. Charity gasped and rolled her eyes as she caught a glimpse of where Vanessa was looking. “My jeans, not my boobs” She snorted, “I love your boobs” Vanessa whispered, her words getting lost amongst her breathlessness as she pulled her in close. Charity cupped Vanessa’s head in her hands and let her fingers roam through her tangled hair as they passionately kissed, both of them only half dressed and considering getting back into bed before they were interrupted by small chaotic footsteps ascending across the landing. “Mummy” a little voice called, muffled from behind the door. The doorknob wiggled but not enough to release the latch to expose them to the toddler on the other side. Vanessa threw her head back and groaned, “Coming Johnny-bobs” she called out before kissing Charity one last time. “To be continued” She added, teasing with a wink as she lifted the arms of her dressing gown back up onto her shoulders. Charity raised an eyebrow at Vanessa’s keenness and reluctantly shrugged on a clean shirt from the wardrobe as Vanessa left to help Johnny and Moses dress ready for nursery. Downstairs, Charity popped slices of bread into the toaster for Johnny and Moses, and quickly boiled the kettle and made tea for herself and Vanessa. “Granny, have you seen my headphones?” Sarah asked, her tone dramatic and loud. “Uh, no sorry babe. Noah up?” She asked, squeezing the tea bag against the rim of her mug. “Yeah, stinking out the bathroom, it’s disgusting” She replied, flipping over all the cushions upon the sofa hoping that her headphones would appear underneath one of them. “Shut up” Noah shrugged, overhearing Sarah’s words as he marched down the stairs, swinging his rucksack. “Where’s my P.E kit?” He asked, dropping to his knees to look inside the washing machine. “You’ve not dried it” He remarked, holding up his wet shorts and jersey top. “Well you’ll just have to do it in your pants then Noah, won’t you” Charity exclaimed, gesturing with her hands as she tried to squeeze past him to get to the bin. “Ergh, no one wants to see him in his pants” Sarah moaned, her voice now full of sarcasm, “Shut up” Noah told her for a second time. Sarah pulled a face and then carried on searching through the living room for her headphones, sighing as she came up empty handed after each attempt. Noah threw his P.E kit back inside the washing machine and grabbed a slice of toast from the plate intended for Moses. Charity sighed heavily and pulled the lid off the bread bin to get another slice out, licking a slathering of butter off her thumb as she did. “Right remember, it’s Jimmy’s birthday thing at the Woolly tonight so it’s straight over to the pub after school, so you can pick away at the buffet for your tea” Charity called out over the loud scraping of the knife across Moses’ toast. “Well I’ll have to come home to change first” Sarah remarked, “Um nope sorry, I’m not risking having you bringing anyone round to an empty house” Charity replied, just as Vanessa and the boys came down the stairs. “Vanessa, tell her” Sarah moaned, “Tell her what?”, “That I need to change out of my uniform before going to the pub tonight, only she won’t let me” Sarah explained, as Charity pulled faces from across the room. “No it’s alright she can come home and change-” Vanessa began, causing Sarah to smile as if she’d won some sort of competition. “I’ll come round and wait for you and then we can walk over to the pub together” Vanessa added with a smile. “Great” Charity beamed, when she really wanted to shout ‘one nil’ at her granddaughter. “Here we are boys, Mummy Charity made you breakfast, what do we say?” Vanessa asked, handing the plastic plates over to their sons as they sat at the table. “Thank you” they chimed quietly together, before slamming the overly buttered, almost cold toast into their mouths. “What am I going to do about my P.E kit?” Noah asked, knowing there was no way he was going to actually take part in his underwear. “Oh give it a rest Noah, borrow something from the lost property box” Charity suggested, throwing her hands in the air. “Ergh, no, they stink” Noah grimaced. “Just like you then” Sarah added, still rummaging between the cushions. “Shut up” Noah repeated himself for the third time, tired of Sarah’s sarcasm. “Give us your planner, I’ll write you a note” Vanessa rolled her eyes, and grabbed a pen from the pencil pot on the table. “What are you looking for anyway?” She asked as Sarah launched a cushion across the room. “My headphones”, “Are they pink and bedazzled to an inch of their life?” Vanessa asked, very matter of factly. “Yeah” Sarah nodded, eagerly. “Bathroom floor, next to the sink” Vanessa told, scribbling her signature at the bottom of Noah’s planner before handing it back to him. “Life saver” Sarah called out as she ran up the stairs. Noah stuffed the planner back into his bag and flopped down onto the sofa. Sarah returned almost immediately with her headphones hanging around her neck, plugged into her phone. “Alright, now get out from under my feet” Charity demanded, “Chop chop. School, now” She added, clapping her hands at the two teenagers and forcing them out of the door. “Behave yourselves and listen to your teachers, you might actually learn something”, “I might, he won’t though cause he’s dull” Sarah joked. Charity pulled the door shut behind them, just catching Noah telling Sarah to shut up for the fourth and final time of the morning. “Those two drive me insane” Charity told, sitting down to put on her shoes. “Yeah, but you love it,” Vanessa added. “Do I?” Charity pretended to ask herself, as she slipped on her boots. Vanessa half laughed as she took the first sip of her tea. “Okay, I have really got to go” Charity announced, taking one long sip at her own cup before pouring the rest of it down the drain. “Alright, see you later” Vanessa cooed, quickly pecking Charity on the lips. “Love you”, “Love you” they declared to one another. Then Charity ruffled her hands through Johnny and Moses’ hair and left for work. As she arrived at the pub, keys in hand she noticed that the doors were already open, and so she knew she was about to get it in the neck from Chas. She took a deep breath and tried to slip inside quietly as not to draw any attention to herself, but as soon as she krept around the side of the bar she found Chas sitting at one of the booths feeding Eve, whilst Paddy tied balloons on a string onto one of the lighting fixtures above the table. Without looking away from the baby bottle, Chas spoke up “You’re late” she said flatly. Charity opened her mouth to excuse herself when Chas spoke again. “No don’t speak, I don’t care why, just get on with something so I can take my daughter back upstairs.” Charity nodded and pursed her lips. Luckily, or unluckily, the drayman hadn’t arrived yet due to having been stuck behind a broken down tractor a mile down the road, so there was just enough time to unlock the cellar doors and make sure he would have a clear pathway to wheel in the new barrels. As she flicked on the lights to the cellar, memories of secret snogging sessions with Vanessa flooded to mind, and so she lingered in the doorway for a moment thinking back to one of those times. “Charity” A woman’s voice sounded from behind, startling her and dragging her back to the present. “Victoria! Don’t sneak up on me like that” She blurted out, her heart pounding at the shock. “Sorry” Victoria stropped, not sounding sorry at all. “What do you want?” Charity asked, shaking her head as she stepped away from the cellar door. “Right, uh, okay don’t go mad, but I kinda need to finish early today so you’re gonna have to help Marlon with the rest of the catering later”, “What? No!” Charity gasped, “What does Chas think about this?”, “Well, I haven’t told her. To be fair none of us ever know if or when you’re going to actually show up, and Chas is in a weird mood, so I haven’t asked her” Victoria trailed on. “Yeah, keep insulting my time keeping, see if that helps your plea” Charity quipped. Victoria cupped her hands together and tilted her face. “Please, I’ve had this afternoon out with Matty planned for ages, and I bailed on him last time and if I don’t go this time he’ll think I’m being funny with him. I’ve already done most of the finger foods. And you know Marlon, he probably won’t actually let you touch anything anyway so you’d just have to stand there and watch” Victoria went on. Charity rolled her eyes, “Where is Marlon anyway?”, “He’s taking April to school, he won’t be long”, “Oh, so it’s alright for Marlon to be late but me-” Charity stopped, not needing to give an example of herself. “To be fair he is a single dad again now”, “Well that’s his own fault for marrying that cow Jessie. It should have been obvious she wasn’t right in the head when he found out she was a headmistress. And when has anyone ever found a headmistress to be sexy anyway?” Charity winced. Victoria stood with a blank expression on her face. “So, can I go early then?” Victoria asked timidly. “Fine, but you owe me, yeah?” Charity gave in. “Aw thank you” Victoria beamed, and then she skipped off before Charity had a chance to change her mind. Charity rubbed her eyes with her hands and let out a small groan just as there was a hard rapping at the door and the bearded face of the regular drayman appeared in the small window above the letterbox. “Hiya, come in” Charity greeted him with a false cheery voice, as she stepped aside to let him through the door. “Good Morning, Miss Dingle” he chirped in a strangely happy voice that only he could ever use this early in the morning. The drayman handed over his wooden clipboard for Charity to sign, and before she could ask for a pen he produced one from his shirt pocket and grinned as he clicked the button to produce its nib. Charity scanned the list of beers and ale’s making sure the order was right, before scribbling her signature across the dotted line. “I’m just going to leave you to it then,” She announced as the drayman bent over and revealed the top of his bum protruding over his ill fitting jeans. “Not a problem” He chortled as he lifted the first barrel over the threshold of the cellar. “Great” Charity whispered and then snuck off back into the bar. Paddy had finished hanging up the balloons and had moved on to bluetacking various blown up photographs of Jimmy King to the walls. “Ergh, imagine waking up to that face every morning” Charity proposed, holding up one of the photos, hoping to get a laugh from Chas. “Well you almost did” Chas announced, her expression deadpan. Charity looked taken aback as memories of her brief relationship with Jimmy all those years ago came to mind. “Lucky escape hey”, “Yeah, lucky Jimmy” Chas replied. Paddy let a small laugh escape from his mouth for a moment before panicking and quieting himself as he caught Charity’s eye. Charity raised an eyebrow and threw the photograph back down onto the table, “I think you’ll find I wake up to a hot, sexy blonde every morning” Charity boasted. “Poor Vanessa” Chas and Paddy both chimed at the same time, then fell into hysterics with one another. “Oh HaHa” Charity gasped, “What is it pick on Charity day?”, “We’re just pulling your leg. Anyway, serves you right for being late, again”, “I have four kids at home” Charity spoke, matter of factly, as if that was a good enough excuse to use. “And I have a newborn who likes to scream all night and glue herself to my breasts all day, but you don’t see me waltzing in late”, “You live upstairs” Charity pointed out. Before another word could be said, the drayman popped his head around the bar. “All done ladies, I’ll be seeing you” He smiled. “Alright thanks mate” Chas called out, with a toothy grin, that she let drop the moment he disappeared back around the back. “Right come on, you can take over from Paddy before he gets a nosebleed” Chas nodded to Charity, handing over a ball of pre used blu tack. “Oh thank you” Paddy gasped, immediately stepping down from the cushioned bench, glad to have his feet back on the floor. “Fine,” Charity murmured, taking the blutack and a photo from the table. “Happy birthday, Jimmy” she huffed, poking the photo of him in the eye to stick it to the wall.


	2. Vanessa

Thin grey clouds scattered the sky by the time Vanessa arrived back home after dropping Johnny and Moses off at nursery, and she sat curled up upon the sofa with a cup of tea watching as faint droplets of rain began to slip down the window. The time had just gone nine and her first and only appointment of the day wasn't until eleven. Moira had called the night before seeking advice for one of her new cows who was reluctant to eat. It was expected to be stress induced so neither women were too worried about it, but had decided a quick once over may be best to rule out anything serious and would put their minds to rest. As she was lost in thought, daydreaming about getting back into bed with Charity at the end of the day, her phone began to vibrate upon the table. Glancing down at it, the name 'Rhona' appeared on the screen, accompanied by a smiling photograph of her that had been taken back on her fortieth birthday. "Rhona, hi" Vanessa beamed, answering the call just as it reached the third ring. "The cafe? Sure, see you there" she nodded. With that, she hung up the phone and gulped down the last swig of tea in her mug and quickly rinsed it under the tap. The rain outside seemed to be getting a little harsher and a brisk breeze had begun to snake through the village, so before leaving she pulled down her coat from the rack near the door, having needed to creep up onto her tiptoes to reach the peg it hung on.  
Once she arrived at the Cafe, Rhona had already gone in and ordered them both a cup of coffee and a cake, and was occupying a small table tucked away in the corner of the room. "Hiya" She breathed as she took a seat beside her friend, who had an obvious fake smile drawn up her face. "Hi" Rhona whimpered, trying her best to hide her nerves behind it. Vanessa looked her up and down and could sense immediately that Rhona was hiding something. "So, are you going to tell me what's wrong or am I going to have to guess?" Vanessa asked, taking a bite from the little chocolate muffin on her plate. "That obvious is it?" Rhona sighed, sipping from her coffee. "Mhmm" Vanessa mumbled, her mouth full of cake. "Okay, I know it's silly but I'm worried about Leo. It's his first day back to school after the summer holidays, only he's got a new teacher" Rhona began. "Hey, there's nothing silly about that. Of course, you're going to worry-" Vanessa coaxed, taking Rhona's hand and rubbing her thumb across her friends. "But try to see the positive side, you and Leo, and Marlon, have already met this new teacher- Mrs-", "Mrs Hill", "Mrs Hill- and you said she was great with him" Vanessa assured. "I know, she was great, she was, I'm just worried Leo won't take to her as well as he did with his last teacher. And with Jessie not around anymore I don't have a friend to watch over him, for my own peace of mind" Rhona explained. Vanessa nodded, listening to everything Rhona had to say and taking in each bit of information her friend offered up. "He's only in for half a day today, to ease him in and see how it goes in the new classroom, then he will have a full day come Monday. I just want it to go well" Rhona shrugged, her eyes a little wet with worry. "And I'm sure it will, but if for some reason it doesn't, then we will deal with that, you know you have me and Charity, and everyone who loves you, to support you both" Vanessa insisted, causing Rhona to smile, a fraction of her worry taken away by the loving words she'd just heard. "Thanks, Ness. I don't know what I'd do without you" She joked; her voice small but sounding calmer than when she'd first spoken. Vanessa chuckled, "That would make you and Charity", "How is she anyway, Charity?", "Charity is Charity" Vanessa shrugged, "Part crazy hot barmaid, part fifth child at home" she huffed playfully, thinking back to how she and Sarah had bickered earlier on. "I don't envy you, all those kids first thing in the morning" Rhona quipped. "You have no idea, but you know what, I love it, so much. All of them, don't get me wrong they can be a handful, Charity included but, they're my family" Vanessa cooed, feeling her insides beginning to turn to mush at the thought. "Awh, you soppy old thing" Rhona laughed quietly, rubbing her hand up and down Vanessa's arm. Rhona threw her head back, then tilted it to the side as she looked at Vanessa who was starting to blush a little at herself. "Gosh, it only feels like five minutes ago that we were chatting about you possibly having feelings for Charity, and now look at you, engaged and so in love, with a wedding just around the corner", "I know, not long now" Vanessa gushed, taking a glimpse at the little diamond sitting on her finger, trying to imagine how it would look accompanied by a wedding ring. "How are the final bits and bobs coming along?" Rhona asked, finishing her coffee. "Not too bad, I'm trying not to go all bridezilla. We've taken our time, planned one thing at a time. And Charity was pretty happy letting me take the reins, she joked one night that it wasn't her first rodeo, which she thought was, you know, hilarious, but she said she didn't really care what flowers we had or what colour scheme we ended up opting for, as long as when she's waiting at the bottom of the aisle that I walk down it ready to spend the rest of my life with her." Vanessa smiled, as Rhona aww'd and ah'd. "But you know what, the one thing she has gone crazy over is her vows. She wants to write her own, and I have no idea what to expect, because the Charity I see, no one else sees. I wonder how she will handle speaking so vulnerably in front of all our guests?", "Ness, it's pretty clear to me, and frankly the rest of the village, that she'd do absolutely anything for you and if she's willing and wanting to write her own vows then she's obviously not afraid to speak her love for you into existence, no matter who is watching" Rhona spoke soothingly. For a moment Vanessa thought she was going to start crying, but managed to pull herself together, fearing she wouldn't be able to stop. She quickly hid her trembling bottom lip behind her coffee cup and took a big gulp. Rhona smiled, her nose wrinkling as she nodded knowingly to Vanessa and took her hand and rubbed her thumb the way she had felt herself minutes before. Neither of them needed to say another word.  
By eleven o'clock, the rain had passed and Vanessa arrived at Barton's farm with a belly full of coffee and her vet bag and overalls ready to take a look at the poorly cow. Moira promptly stepped out of the barn and waved Vanessa over as she heard the car engine switch off. "We're in here" Moira called out, her accent sounding particularly strong as it wafted across the farm. Vanessa dodged the muddy watered potholes as she swung open the gate and secured it shut behind her. "How is she? Any change?" She asked as she reached Moira's side. "No, she's still not eating," Moira said, reaching out to stroke the cow upon its shoulder. "Aw, poor thing" Vanessa voiced, pushing open the stable door to get a closer look. As she approached the cow, she noticed that its underbelly was a little on the firm side and immediately a thought came to mind. "Is she a seasoned cow?" Vanessa asked. Moira tilted her head to think, "Yeah I think so, it's what was said on the advert", "I think she may be pregnant" Vanessa told, having a good feel. "What? That can't be she's not old enough," Moira questioned, joining Vanessa and feeling the cow's stomach. "I think she may be older than the seller had let you believe, I definitely think she's expecting, I can do a rectal palpation to tell for sure if needs be, but that would explain the lack of eating, on top of the move, I'll still check all her obs if you think it necessary but otherwise she seems a perfectly happy and healthy little cow" Vanessa smiled, patting the cow gently. "Right, well, thanks Ness, I'll be giving that seller a piece of my mind, but as long as she's okay, I suppose it's no bother" Moira sighed. "Great, well that's that then" Vanessa breathed, stepping back out of the stall. "Was there anything else?" She asked, "No that's it, what do I owe you for the call out?", "Oh nothing, I didn't do anything so we'll just leave it this time", "Are you sure?", "Yes, one of the perks of having a vet for a friend", "Thank you, well, I won't waste any more of your day", "Not at all. Are you going to Jimmy's surprise party tonight?", "I don't think you need to include 'surprise' there, but yeah, I'll be there I guess", "Charity said the same this morning, I wonder how he's managed, creeping around on eggshells around Nicola?", "Who knows, but I tell you, for his sake I hope he's managed to keep his secret better than she had kept hers", they laughed. "I hope so. See you later then" Vanessa chuckled, glancing back to the cow before leaving the farm all together.  
Back home, Vanessa jumped in the shower to wash off the smell of the farm from her skin. As the warm water caressed her body, she stood still amongst the steam with her eyes closed for a few minutes, just letting the warmth of the water wash over her like a blanket. Her blonde hair darkened as it soaked beneath the shower head and her tiny brown freckles were hidden beneath copious amounts of bubbles as she began to lather herself in a fruity shower gel. While she washed, a tiny waterproof radio suctioned to the wall, quietly played the latest hits from her favourite radio station and she sang along loudly as the soapy bubbles ran down her leg and disappeared down the plug hole. Outside the window, the grey skies had cleared up and looked set to be a promisingly sunny afternoon, and those afternoon hours came and went in the blink of an eye, and soon enough it was time to pick up Johnny and Moses from nursery. At the gates of the nursery, Vanessa waited amongst other mothers and fathers for her boys to be let out. The teacher, a short dark-haired lady, stood in the doorway and rattled off a list of names of children whose surnames started with letters from the beginning of the alphabet. As usual, Moses came tearing out with felt tip pen on his face, swinging his lunch box dramatically as he spotted Vanessa amongst the crowd of adults. "Hey Moses," Vanessa cooed, "How was your day?" She asked enthusiastically. "Good" Moses blurted out, reaching out his hand to high five her as they often did. "Good one, now stay stood by me while we wait for Johnny" She told, keeping a watchful eye on him as he eyed up the other children running around, letting their little bodies wind round and around a nearby lamppost. A few more children exited the nursery, until finally the alphabet narrowed down to the last few letters. "Johnny Woodfield" The teacher called out, and within seconds Johnny came strolling through the double doors, dragging his coat across the ground as he slowly made his way over to his mother and brother. "Hey Johnny-bobs" Vanessa smiled, "How was your day, did you have fun too?" She asked. Johnny nodded and gently smacked his palm against Vanessa's with a small smile. "Good boy" she soothed. "Okay let's go, hold my hand" she announced, taking a small, clammy hand in each of her own, and together they walked out of the school gates and headed to the car.  
Sarah and Noah arrived home shortly after Vanessa and the boys, who were already changed into clean clothes and ready to leave and spend the evening at the pub. "Hi" Vanessa called out from the kitchen, wiping and putting away the dishes she'd used earlier for lunch. Johnny and Moses sat on the sofa, watching the children's channel, with various silly sounds and audience laughter echoing around the small living room. "Hi" the two teenagers said boredly, each dropping their bags near the front door. "Okay, quickly when changing okay? Charity's expecting us soon. She's just text to say she's going to have her break with us, so we need to be as fast as we can, she's not sat down all day" Vanessa told as she quickly washed away the remaining soap suds in the kitchen sink. Noah flopped down onto the sofa next to his brothers, as Sarah dredged up the stairs, her eyes glued to her phone. "Good day?" Vanessa asked Noah, as she had previously asked the two younger boys. "It was ok," Noah replied, shrugging his shoulders before he too pulled out his phone and started scrolling through social media. "Hmm" Vanessa breathed, mostly to herself as she received her typical reply from the teenager. Surprisingly, Sarah skulked back down the stairs around fifteen minutes later, having changed out of her school uniform and into her jeans. As she appeared at the foot of the stairs, Noah quickly ran up to change too, thinking his niece would have been a lot longer getting ready, which would have bought him more time to lounge around before getting himself ready too. "Right, we all set?" Vanessa asked, slinking back into her yellow coat as Noah resurfaced in his joggers. "Yes!" Moses shouted from the sofa. "Alright, let's go go go" She cheered as the two little boys climbed down from the sofa and raced to the front door. As the kids piled out into the street, Vanessa glanced back across the room to check that everything was in order, and then smiled to herself before pulling the door shut behind her.


	3. Charity

Chapter 3.

Charity

The pub had started to fill up with regular faces by four o’clock, each time the door swung open those already inside startled, expecting it to be Jimmy and Nicola, even though they weren’t due to arrive for another hour at least. Victoria had left to meet Matty at two o’clock, leaving Charity in the hands of Marlon in the kitchen. She leaned boredly against the kitchen counter with her chin resting upon her fist. Every now and again she took in a waft of onion from her fingertips, even though she’d washed her hands twice since sliding them onto cocktail sticks, accompanied by little blocks of cheese and small sausages. It hadn’t taken long and ended up being the only task in which Marlon allowed her to partake. Always the perfectionist, Marlon very slowly and carefully lifted the plastic lid off Jimmy’s birthday cake. He’d baked and iced it himself from scratch and had strictly instructed Charity not to even breathe in the cake’s direction. “Careful” Charity quavered, as the lid rose up over the cakes third tier. Marlon’s hands wobbled a little, almost causing him to bump the icing. His face curled up into a ball as he regained his balance and sucked in a deep breath. Charity’s lips twinged as she held back the urge to laugh at Marlon’s concentration. Finally, the lid had made it over the top of the cake and revealed Marlon’s creation. “Wow” Charity breathed, taking a step closer to get a better look at the finished piece. Flat across the top of the cake lay an edible photograph of a young, teenage Jimmy in a school uniform that screamed the 1980s. Marlon placed his hands upon his hips and cocked his head to the side as he admired the masterpiece he had created. “It may not look that appealing” He began, as he too pulled faces at the photo Nicola had provided, “But it’s going to taste out of this world” he finished off, chef’s kissing the air. “Not afraid to toot your own horn, hey?” Charity quipped, raising an eyebrow at her cousin. “These hands are just simply amazing at what they do” Marlon replied, unfazed by the comment. “Yeah, so’s mine” Charity whispered, staring into the distance. “Yeah right, you don’t even come in on time” Marlon joked. “Oh, I wasn’t talking about pulling pints” She followed up with a wink. Marlon gagged as he cottoned on to Charity’s trail of thought. “You see that? Almost threw up in my mouth” He cringed. Charity rolled her eyes and forced herself up straight. “Right, are we taking this grub out the front now, or what?” She asked, peering over a tray of ham sandwiches. “Yes, and be careful, please” Marlon sighed as he prepared to push the cake trolley over the threshold between the kitchen and the bar. Ham sandwiches in one hand and tuna in the other, Charity made her way into the bar to set down the trays upon the table that had been cleared for the food spread. Photographs of Jimmy’s balding head stared at her everywhere she looked as she glanced around the filled-up pub. “Oh, the food’s out” Pearl chatted, tapping Paddy on the back of the hand. “You can’t have any yet, we have to wait for Jimmy” Charity told her, stepping in front of the table to block the view from the busy body. Pearl’s smile turned into a pout as she turned her back on Charity in a huff. “Charming” Charity whispered to herself. As she began to move away from the table the door opened and finally in came Vanessa and the kids. A smile crept up Charity’s face as her eyes met those of her fiancé's from across the room. “Babe” she breathed, taking Vanessa’s face in her hands. Vanessa’s breath warmed her cheek and her lips felt soft upon her own as they kissed one another in the middle of the room. A few of the villagers took a sneaky glance at them while they hugged one another lovingly, but Charity didn’t mind, gone were the days where she cared about showing affection in public. When she was with Vanessa it was like the rest of the world faded away leaving just the two of them wrapped up in one another's arms. “I missed you” Charity breathed in Vanessa’s ear, playfully. “I missed you too” Vanessa cooed, pulling her head back to see Charity’s face. Vanessa’s smile stayed firmly glued on as she sniffed the surrounding air. “You smell like onions,” she said. “Yeah, that’ll be the onions” Charity confirmed, nodding. Vanessa giggled. “Are we going to sit down or what?” Sarah moaned, as she, Noah, Johnny and Moses all stood huddled around them embarrassed. “Yes” Charity retorted, her voice breathy and sarcastic, “Go sit in that booth over there” She added, gesturing towards an empty seating area. Upon the table sat pointed party hats, plastic party blowers and little glittery sequins which read ‘happy birthday’. Sarah and Noah immediately slinked into the corner of the booth, followed by Johnny and Moses whose little legs were far from touching the floor. “I’ll go get the drinks in” Charity told Vanessa, stepping out of the way for her to get past. As she made her way behind the bar, Chas had come back downstairs and was carrying a large box with a set of black speakers inside. “Woah, woah, woah, what’s that doing out?” Charity asked, staring at the dusty microphone attached to one of the speakers. “It’s the karaoke machine?” Chas pondered, looking down to double check she had picked up the right box. “Yes, I know what it is, what I’m asking is why you have it now and how you even found it in the first place?” She growled, jabbing the box with her finger as she vividly remembered hiding it after the last party they had hosted. “Nicola wanted karaoke” Chas shrugged, as if it was beyond obvious why she had brought it down. Charity groaned and put her head in her hands, “Well you won’t catch me near that thing anytime soon” she remarked as Chas wandered away from her.   
When she returned to the table, with a tray of cokes and lager, Charity slumped beside Vanessa, thankful to finally have the chance to put her feet up for a little while. Jimmy and Nicola were due to arrive at any moment, so the punters quietened down so not to miss their big entrance and ruin the surprise. Johnny and Moses sipped their pop through paper straws, legs swinging and kicking against the back of their seat, wearing their party hats proudly. “Quiet now boys, when Jimmy comes in, we’re going to shout surprise really loud, okay?” Vanessa coaxed. “Not much point seeing as it isn’t a surprise” Charity murmured. Vanessa dug her elbow into Charity’s side, but turned to see a smirk upon her face as right on cue, the door was pulled open and in walked Nicola, quickly followed by Jimmy. “Surprise!” The guests each shouted, promptly followed by the chorus of Stevie Wonder’s rendition of the happy birthday song over the loudspeaker that Bob had managed to plug in and set up on time. Jimmy threw his arms up in the air with a feigned look of shock on his face. “Oh Nico, you didn’t” He grinned nervously, side hugging his wife who looked pleased as punch that the surprise had gone down well. “Happy Birthday” She grinned, leaning in for a kiss. From over the bar, Bob handed Jimmy a pint, on the house, and a G&T for Nicola. “I don’t know what to say” Jimmy admitted, lost for words. Even though he had known there was going to be a party, he still felt bowled over with love that his friends and neighbours were all there to wish him well on his special day. “You can start by saying ‘Thank You’ to your amazing wife” Nicola suggested, teasing him. “Thank you, really” He pleaded, kissing her once more on the forehead. “Right, let’s get this party started” Bob shouted, rubbing his palms together and quickly running back over to the karaoke machine where he proceeded to turn on, and turn up the music playlist. Dead or Alive’s ‘You Spin Me Round’ began to play loudly from the speakers and disco lights flashed dramatically across the pub. “Hiya sis, and Sis in Law to be” A cheery voice chirped from beside Charity and Vanessa. As they looked up, Tracey appeared in a glittery top and blue eyeshadow. “Blimey, it’s a birthday party not New Year's Eve” Vanessa boomed, “Aw give over, I haven’t had a night out in ages” She laughed, squeezing her bum on the edge of the bench next to Charity. “You are still taking the boys off our hands tonight though?” Vanessa asked, suddenly remembering that Johnny and Moses would need to leave the main room of the pub at nine o’clock. “Yes, I know” Tracey sighed, flaunting her glass of orange juice. Charity took a large sip from her glass of wine, emptying the glass in one go as she noticed Chas eyeballing her from the food table, then rose to her feet. “Break over, back in a bit” She shouted down Vanessa’s ear. Vanessa nodded her ‘okay’ and pecked her on the cheek before she left her side to help unwrap cling film from the food trays. “I now declare the buffet, open” Bob jeered down the microphone, clearly loving his role of DJ for the night ahead. Before being sent back to the other side of the bar, Charity plated up two paper plates with sandwiches, crisps, pizza and cocktail sausages for Johnny and Moses. The two small boys thanked her and began to munch on their tea. “What about us?” Noah asked his mother, motioning to Sarah. “You two are big enough and ugly enough to get your own sarnies” Charity bellowed, “Now go on, before Pearl scoffs them all” She added, watching the old woman pile her plate like a mountain. Then she headed behind the bar to pull a couple of pints. Just moments later, Vanessa had come over and taken a seat at the edge of the bar beside Rhona who had just arrived with Moira. “I owe you a drink” Rhona announced. “You do?” Vanessa asked, “Yep, for the pep talk earlier. When I picked Leo up this afternoon, his teacher told me that he’d had a brilliant time and was calm and happy throughout the whole day” She explained, letting both Charity and Moira in on the conversation. “That’s great, see I knew it would all be okay” Vanessa said, as she hugged her friend. Charity smiled and quickly finished pouring pints for the three of them, still not having had more than the one glass of wine herself since taking her break earlier on. “Here you go” Charity said, handing over the last of the lagers. As she did, she clocked the time. There was only five minutes left of her shift, then she would finally get to join her friends on the other side of the bar and party with Vanessa. “White wine” Kim Tate stated swiftly after entering the pub, her face in the same wrinkled scowl as always. “First of all, you’re supposed to say please, secondly this is a private party which I don’t think you were even invited to, and thirdly you’re going to have to ask someone else because I am officially off duty” Charity boasted. With that she nipped out from behind the bar and pulled up a stool for herself beside Vanessa. Kim snarled, but moved away as Bob noticed the empty bar and ran over to begin serving. As he reached the lager tap, he clapped his hands together. “What can I get for you?” he asked, looking over to Kim, but Charity blurted out her own order, and Bob being Bob, was too afraid of his boss to ignore her. “Let the fun begin” Charity breathed, clinking glasses with Vanessa.  
By time the karaoke had gotten into full swing, both Charity and Vanessa had had plenty to drink, if not, too much. Kerry had really got the party started with her rendition of Little Mix’s Shout Out to My Ex, all while giving the evil eye to Dan who was sitting on the opposite side of the pub, looking sheepishly into his pint. Vanessa had jumped up to her feet by the second chorus and was dancing away in a world of her own as Charity looked on, completely smitten with her embarrassing girlfriend. “I’m going to put our names down” Vanessa told. “Woah, no, I do not sing” Charity coerced. “Please” Vanessa pleaded, blinking rapidly, fluttering her lashes in an attempt to get her own way. “Not a chance” Charity shook her head, laughing as Vanessa almost fell into her lap as she bent down to look intensely into her eyes. “I’ll have you up there by the end of the night” she insisted. “I’d love to see you try,” she said, with a small nod. Vanessa narrowed her eyes and took Charity’s words as a challenge, but turned her back to carry on dancing. Once Kerry’s song came to an end, she curtsied to those who were applauding her, mostly for the entertainment value she had provided, rather than for her actual singing ability. She then handed the microphone to Mandy, who had opted to sing Mambo Number 5 but kept changing the words to ‘Mandy’ Number 5. Vanessa disappeared from Charity’s view for a moment, and she thought about getting up to see where she had gone, but before she could Chas came over with a tray of shots, in a much better mood than she had been in the morning. “What’s all this?” Charity asked. “Paddy is looking after Eve tonight, so Mama can have some fun and sink some shots. ‘Ere, drink up” she bellowed, handing over a line-up of the glasses. On the count of three they threw back their heads and their shots, and swallowed. “Ergh” Charity moaned, pulling a face as the bitter taste ran down her throat. “Mhmm” Chas groaned, “Another” She followed up, passing over another shot glass. Charity shrugged her shoulders and obliged. Together they sunk back another shot, and then a third. “Enough” Charity wavered, her head beginning to feel warm and fuzzy as the shots mixed with the other alcohol already in her system. “Okay” Chas agreed, secretly tipping her last shot over her shoulder just like she had done with all the others, then flashed a sneaky thumbs up to Vanessa who had instructed her to practically force the shots down Charity’s throat hoping they would help her change her mind about singing with her. From behind, Vanessa then wrapped her arms around Charity’s waist. “Babe,” Charity swooned, feeling the warmth of the alcohol buzzing around in her head. “Here you are,” Bob announced, passing over another round of drinks that Vanessa had ordered. “What’s this?” Charity asked. “Just drink” Vanessa chortled, sipping from a little black straw. “Steady on” A friendly face belated as Moira and Rhona each returned to the bar, alongside Jimmy who accidentally stumbled upon them on his way back from the toilet. “Ah, there he is, the birthday boy” Moira called out as Jimmy approached. He smiled acknowledging. “So, how’s your big day been?” Rhona asked, “Terrifying, I’ve been walking on eggshells all day. But seriously, did I look surprised when I came in?”, “Surprised? You looked fit for a heart attack, but I think Nicola bought it. If she didn’t, I doubt you’d be standing here now” Charity drunkenly joked. “Bought what?” A shrill voice boomed. Jimmy froze. Nicola had caught the tail end of the conversation and practically had steam coming out from her ears as she jumped to conclusions. Vanessa bit down on her lips, causing them to disappear as she ducked her head down to focus on the contents of her glass. Charity scoffed awkwardly as Jimmy panicked and tried to come up with an excuse on the spot. “Well it’s just, it’s just” He trembled, looking to his friends for help, which they did not give. “You know how much love and hard work went into planning this party? It’s just, what I’m trying to say is I know how easy it can be to stress about the big reveal and accidentally leave something hanging around-”, “Get on with its Jimmy” Nicola interrupted, spitting feathers. “I accidentally found out about the party,” He squeaked. “How long have you known?” She demanded to know, curling her fingers into a fist at her sides. “A week” Jimmy said in a small voice, ready to receive the full wrath of his wife. "You ruined my surprise and let me look like a fool, after teasing you all week about what I had planned, Jimmy King?” She spat, again looking very angry, with a hint of embarrassment hiding behind her scowl. “It’s ok Nico, it doesn’t matter, it’s still been a really great party” he insisted, hoping she would calm down and let her disappointment slide. Charity opened her mouth to speak but without even looking at her Nicola spoke up. “Shut it” She commanded, and so Charity closed her mouth again without saying a word. Then for a moment Nicola’s features softened. “No, you’re right, it doesn’t matter” She spoke. Jimmy, the women at the bar and the few other onlookers looked confused, as it wasn’t very often that Nicola managed to control her temper, especially in public. “It doesn’t?” Jimmy asked, not quite believing what he’d heard his wife say to him. “No. It doesn’t matter. Why don’t you come over and take a look at your cake? I had it made especially for you” She said, taking his hand and leading him to the table a few feet away. Jimmy cautiously followed her. The cake was perfect and sat pride of place in the middle of the table. It was at this point that Marlon resurfaced from the kitchen after finishing the washing up. “See, it has your face on it” Nicola began. Jimmy peered down at the cake. “And now it has your face in it” she fumed, and with one fluid motion she pushed Jimmy’s head straight into the icing, splattering Marlon’s creation onto everything in the direct area. “Surprise” She shouted like a mad woman. “No!” Marlon cried, throwing his hands to his face as the cake crumbled and fell apart before anyone had had a chance to taste it. “Nicola!” Jimmy roared, wiping cake out of his every facial feature. Charity laughed a little too loudly which caught Nicola’s attention. “Think it’s funny, do you? Well why don’t you have some?” she exploded, grabbing a fist full of cake and launching it in Charity’s direction. Charity froze in horror as her head and chest proceeded to get plastered in cake, her nose dripping with icing. Vanessa didn’t know whether to laugh along or launch herself at Nicola for what she had done to Charity, but at the same time she knew that her girlfriend’s mouth often got her into trouble and there was nothing she could do to stop that. With fury in her eyes, Charity stormed across the bar towards Nicola. “Charity, no” Vanessa shouted, already sensing what she was about to do, but it was too late. Charity took hold of the first thing she could grab, which just happened to be a large jug of custard. She lifted the handle and poured the cold, thick, yellow custard onto Nicola’s head in its entirety. The other party guests had sat in silence, in shock horror as the scenes unfolded in front of them. All except Sarah and Noah who were giggling to themselves in the corner, recording it all on their phones. “Nice one, Mum” Noah called out with an approving nod. Charity smirked and nodded back to her son, as Nicola shook herself off, she snatched up a handful of sandwiches meaning to throw them back at Charity, but as Charity ducked aside the tuna filled bread became smothered over Layla, who screamed as her expensive, stylish outfit was ruined. Before they knew it, the pub had erupted into a food fight that spared no one from being attacked by flying finger foods from the buffet. “Time to go” Tracey squealed, rushing Johnny and Moses to their feet, narrowly missing being hit in the face by a bit of quiche. “Quick, move” She shouted to Sarah and Noah who had perked up and had hoped to join in the fight, before they too were ushered out of the door. Charity turned to Vanessa, only to find her slack and her eyes wide open as her jumper and part of her face appeared to be covered in whipped cream and jam.


	4. Vanessa

Chapter 4.

Vanessa

“Enough” Chas’ voice boomed alongside the loud clanging of the pub bell. The guests one by one stopped throwing food and stood in silence, embarrassed that they were on the receiving end of her anger. The night was still young but everyone knew that the party was over. “This is a pub, not a high school dinner hall” She spoke, her eyes reflecting the anger in her words. “So, I suggest you finish your drinks and go home before I bar the lot of you,” she added. Charity looked down at her empty glass and then glanced to the door. “Oh no, not you” Chas whimpered, “You’re going to stay, and you’re going to clean up this mess until I can see my reflection in the floor” she said, leaning in closely, speaking into her ear. Vanessa felt Charity’s eyes boring into her but she daren’t look up in fear of letting out a nervous laugh in Chas’ face. Discarded drinks sat on tabletops as people rushed past and out of the pub before Chas changed her mind and made them stay and tidy up too. When they were finally left alone, Vanessa lifted her gaze to see Charity lazily throwing bits of cake and sausage rolls into a plastic bag. A smirk grew up her face as she watched her fiancé gag whilst touching bits of wet food. Failing to suppress her amusement, Charity turned her head to see Vanessa quietly laughing to herself. “Oh, I’m glad you find this funny” She quipped, the black bag in her hand dancing around at her side as she gestured to the array of waste all around them, but she couldn’t keep a straight face and ended up smirking back. “I can’t believe you did that” Vanessa giggled, replaying the memory of Nicola’s face as the cold custard ran down the back of her neck. “Yeah well I’m not sorry, because she started it” Charity shrugged, using the back of her hand to wipe away a blob of icing that was clinging to her eyebrow. “But I’m sorry it ended in you taking a face full of cake” she added, dropping the bag to walk to her side. “Come here,” she whispered as she tilted Vanessa’s chin upwards, “Ergh, stop, get off” Vanessa squirmed as Charity licked her thumb and rubbed furiously at the dried bit of cake smothered across her cheek. “We didn’t set a very good example for the kids tonight, did we? Getting drunk and starting a fight” Vanessa asked. “Sure, we did” Charity chirped, “We showed them that; if a crazy person throws something at you, whether it be a fist or a bit of cake, you stand up for yourself” she said, feeling proud of her answer. Vanessa shook her head playfully and rose from her stool. “I suppose we better get cleaning before Chas comes back down” She said, ducking her head down into her shoulders. “Yeah, we better had. Don’t tell anyone but, she frightens me when she’s angry, that one” Charity admitted. “Wow, and here’s me thinking you’re not afraid of anything, except karaoke” Vanessa teased, walking away, cockily. “I’m not afraid of karaoke,” Charity gasped. Vanessa raised an eyebrow, “Sure you’re not” she nodded. Charity hesitated for a moment; her hands curled into loose fists as she glanced at the karaoke machine from across the room. Then she sighed and marched towards Vanessa. As Charity’s hand wrapped around her wrist, Vanessa looked up from the ground, having been picking up food from beneath one of the tables as Charity dragged her over to the karaoke machine. “If I’m doing this, you’re doing it with me” Charity murmured, her voice suddenly rattling with nerves. With Microphone in hand she flicked through the song suggestions, then music flooded the empty room, echoing against the walls as the intro to Sonny and Cher’s ‘I Got You Babe’ began to play. Vanessa stared at Charity in surprise as the countdown to the first lyrics appeared on the screen. “They say we’re young and we don’t know, we won’t find out until we grow” Charity began, then she quickly pushed the microphone towards Vanessa, who grinned before singing her line. “Well I don’t know if all that’s true, 'cause you got me and baby, I got you” Vanessa beamed, “Babe. I got you babe” They sang together, sharing the microphone between them. Though Charity’s voice wavered, her eyes locked onto Vanessa’s and she smiled, causing Vanessa’s heart to feel like it was fit to burst. As the song moved along and they sang to the empty room, Charity took hold of Vanessa’s left hand, “I got flowers in the spring” She began, then she quickly raised her hand to sight and rubbed her thumb over her engagement ring, “I got you, to wear my ring”, Vanessa’s eyes filled with happy tears but her smile remained wide and toothy. “And when I’m sad, you’re a clown. And if I get scared, you’re always around” She sang back to her smitten fiancé. By the end of the song, Charity’s nerves seemed to disappear as they repeated the verse, “I got you babe”, emphasising the word babe, causing them to giggle as they swayed together on the little makeshift stage. “Oh, isn’t that nice” Bob called across the room. Charity instantly blushed, and hid her face in Vanessa’s hair. They had forgotten that Bob had been checking the stock and tidying away the last of the glasses and plates in the kitchen. “Go on, go home, you disgust me with your love. I’ll finish off in here” he joked, waving his hands as he spoke. “You sure?” Vanessa asked, hoping he had meant it. “Yeah, go on” He insisted, pulling a damp tea towel off his shoulder. “Ok, well you don’t have to tell me twice” Charity blurted out, grabbing hold of Vanessa’s hand once more, only this time she ran her out of the pub and home to bed. 

The morning had come and gone before either Charity or Vanessa woke up the next day. It was already early afternoon when they began to stir, but luckily Tracey was looking after the kids back at Tug Ghyll and sending them home whenever Vanessa text to say they were up and about. Vanessa felt a twinge of guilt as she noticed the clock point towards one o’clock, but all those feelings disappeared as she saw Charity lying beside her. Vanessa turned onto her side and attempted to cosy up to her, thinking she was asleep, until she let out a groan. “Babe, are you awake?” Charity asked, not moving to check for herself. “Yeah” Vanessa spoke, and paused wondering what was wrong. “My back’s gone,” Charity muttered. Vanessa let out a small laugh at first but stopped herself when she noticed that Charity wasn’t messing around. “Oh God” Vanessa let slip. With that she jumped out of bed and raced around to Charity’s side. “Just help me up, I should be ok when I get to my feet” She hoped, sucking in a large breath as she readied herself for a twang of pain. “Alright, ready, one, two” Vanessa counted aloud, and on three she pulled Charity upright on the bed. “Ah” Charity repeated to herself as she reached her feet, ”Oh babe this is it, I’m officially old. It’s all downhill from here now” she wallowed in self-pity. Vanessa rolled her eyes. “Please don’t say that, we’re the same age” Vanessa huffed, considering the possibility that they both may actually be over the hill. “Sorry” Charity moaned as she steadied herself. Vanessa pouted and placed her hand on the small of Charity’s back. “Sofa day in our pyjamas?” She suggested. “You read my mind” Charity sighed happily.

Downstairs, Vanessa fluttered back and forth between the sofa and the kitchen as she catered to Charity’s every need, even though she felt she was milking it a little, while she herself had a pounding headache caused by the amount of alcohol, she’d gone through at the pub. Together they snuggled up and watched television, binged on tea and toast and switched off from anything going on further than their own front door. “You okay?” Vanessa asked, as Charity maneuvered herself to the edge of the sofa. “I have this horrible ache, right here” She motioned to the groove at the base of her spine. “I could do with a massage,” She mentioned, looking innocently at Vanessa. “Could you?” Vanessa asked sarcastically, waiting for Charity to ask her nicely. “Please can you give me one, Babe? It would make me feel so much better” She asked, poking out her bottom lip like a child. “Lie down” Vanessa huffed playfully. When Charity had gotten herself into a comfortable position, laying across the sofa on her stomach, Vanessa sat upon the backs of Charity’s thighs and rolled up the bottom of her pyjama top. Gently she rubbed her thumbs in a slow and steady manoeuvre from the small of Charity’s back and up over the bumps of her spine. Though her fingertips were slightly on the cold side, Charity moaned contently as the pain began to subside. “Up a bit” she mumbled; her words muffled as her face remained buried into a cushion. Vanessa smiled, actually enjoying herself as her fingers caressed her girlfriend’s soft, warm skin. As the massage went on, Charity released some more moans and groans while Vanessa worked her magic. “Right there,” Charity muttered as Vanessa found a sweet spot near the base of her spine, just as the front door opened and in walked Tracey and the kids. “Oh my God” Tracey shouted, turning away to shield the kid's eyes as she caught a quick glimpse of bare skin and had heard Charity letting out a moan. Vanessa quickly pulled herself more upright and caught her sister’s eye. “Flaming ‘eck V, I thought you were doing it then”, “No, we weren’t doing it.” Vanessa spat, embarrassed even though she had no reason to be. “Charity’s thrown her back out” she added. “Oh, good” Tracey said, with a sigh of relief. “Excuse me, but how is it good? I am in agony here” Charity whinged, slowly lifting herself up from the sofa. “Well no, it’s not good, obviously. I meant it was good that you two weren’t doing it” Tracey explained. “Please stop saying that” Noah grimaced, at the thought of his mother getting up to no good in the spot where he normally sat to play his video games. “We’ll have to get that decontaminated now” Sarah groaned, pointing at the sofa. “We were not doing it” Charity retaliated, “Anyway, I’m not talking about that with you, so go on, get up those stairs out of my sight” She added, as she rearranged her skew-whiffed clothing. Sarah laughed which caused Charity to smirk as she reached out her arm to lightly slap her across the bottom as she ran past to reach the stairs. Sarah glanced back and grinned as she managed to slip past her Granny and then disappeared upstairs with Noah trailing up behind her. “Did you two boys have a good time over at Auntie Tracey’s last night?” Vanessa asked as the two toddlers stood bored watching their mum’s talking. “Yeah” They both uttered, Moses said with a finger up his nose, while Johnny stuck his in his mouth. Vanessa pulled a face at the snot and dribble on the hands of the kids. “Right well, are you ready then or?” Tracey asked Charity, who was now leaning against the staircase and rubbing her lower back. “Ready for what?” Charity asked, confused. “You were going to help me with something,” Tracey spoke, her words coming out slow but turned up like a question. “I was?” Charity pondered. Tracey widened her eyes and tilted her head. “Oh, oh yeah, I was” Charity remembered. “Just give me a sec to change” She said in a hurry, quickly heading up the stairs. “Well, I think I’m in the wrong profession” Vanessa spoke loudly, “Clearly my talents are wasted as a vet and I should have been a masseuse” She implied, hinting to what seemed to be Charity’s cured back pain as she ran back down the stairs a few minutes later. Charity bobbed her head, “You have magic hands babe, I’ve always said that” She winked, “Ew, enough of that” Tracey gagged, as Charity pulled Vanessa in close for a kiss, almost sweeping her off her feet in the process. Vanessa could feel Charity’s smile as they locked lips. “What is it you two are up to, anyway?” Vanessa asked as Charity finally let her go to put her coat on. “We’re not up to anything” They both spoke in unison. “I promised Tracey I’d help her with-” She quickly tried to come up with a white lie, “My sink” Tracey quickly said before Charity could come up with something. Both Charity and Vanessa looked to Tracey confused. “Yeah, that’s right. She’s got a leak and I said I’d take a look at it, seeing as I was able to fix the one in the ladies over at the pub, isn’t that right Trace?” Charity said, doing her best not to sound suspicious, though she knew she was failing miserably. “That’s right, so we really better be going before my bathroom gets flooded,” Tracey nodded, taking Charity by the arm. “Won’t be long” Charity said, now avoiding eye contact with Vanessa. Vanessa nodded slowly, “Okay, well as long as you know I don’t believe a word of what was just said” She laughed to herself. “Well if you didn't question me, I wouldn’t have to lie, would I?” Charity burst. “Just go” Vanessa joked, shooing them both out of the door. She watched from the window as they headed off, and she laughed again as she could see Charity telling Tracey off for coming up with such an unbelievable excuse. “What are they up to?” Noah asked as he plodded back down the stairs to help himself to a packet of biscuits on the kitchen worktop. “I’ve no idea, but I reckon it just might have something to do with the wedding” Vanessa chirped. When Charity and Tracey disappeared from view, she joined the kids on the sofa, kissing each of them on the head with a big smile on her face.


	5. Charity

Charity’s back had gone stiff again from sitting at Tracey’s kitchen table, but the overall aches and pains had finally subsided. The second half of her tea had gone cold in the little pink mug that she had been drinking from and the few biscuit crumbs sat upon her lap dared to tumble down over her thighs and onto the carpet with one swift movement. The house was silent aside from the repetitive clicking of the keyboard buttons on Tracey’s phone and the brief sound of her voice whenever she came across something that had caught her eye. “What about something like that?” Tracey asked, turning her phone around so that Charity could see its screen. She squinted across the table and read the short poem that Tracey had found on Google. “Oh God, no” Charity scoffed as her eyes scanned over the perfectly rhymed words about ‘stilling thy beating heart’. “Besides, I want to write my own. I’m not stealing some rubbish poem that somebody else has written” Charity boasted, reminding her future sister in law for the second time in the last hour that she wanted her vows to be special and personal to her and Vanessa, she just needed someone to be there with her when she wrote them, for help and advice, and she had chosen Tracey because she knew whether her words would be too boring or too cheesy just by being able to read the look upon her face when she read them aloud. If she gushed it was too much and if her expression was deadpan then it was boring or too complicated to follow, what she really wanted was happy tears and just a hint of jealousy. “Then just speak from the heart” Tracey shrugged, locking her phone and putting it face down on the table so as not to let it distract her from reading the few words Charity had already written down on the back of an old envelope. Charity reached for the scrap of paper ready to snatch it away from her but just missed it. “No don’t read that” She shouted but Tracey’s eyes were already bouncing left and right as she gave the scribbled letters a once over. Charity’s face began to blush and her cheeks turned a subtle shade of pink as Tracey’s mouth dropped open ever so slightly. “Well you can’t say that in a church” She murmured, putting the envelope back down far away from herself, with a disgusted look upon her face. Charity grabbed the paper and crumpled it up into a ball. “We’re not getting married in a Church” Charity whimpered in her defence, throwing the paper across the room, missing the bin by mere centimetres and watching lazily as it landed on the carpet with the other failed and rejected attempts of romance. “Oh yeah” Tracey sighed. Back when Charity and Vanessa had only just begun planning their wedding, they had hoped to marry in the village Church. One morning they found themselves on Harriet’s doorstep with a basket of biscuity goodies and a bottle of wine in the hopes that she would agree to marry them. Which she did, but when she called to okay it with the Bishop, their dreams of waltzing down the church aisle were snatched away. Apparently, he wished them well with their upcoming nuptials but had no intention of marrying them in the house of God. ‘Fine’ was Charity’s overall reaction, and she had dragged Vanessa out of Harriet’s home and across to the pub for a stiff drink to drown their sorrows. After a few days of trying hard to come across as overly friendly and head over heels in love to various Vicars and Pastors, they decided to call it quits on the Church hopping and instead managed to twist Moira’s arm and paid her a generous lump sum to host the wedding up at Barton’s farm. And on top of that, Harriet was free to marry them now that they were saying their vows over a hay bale instead of at an altar. Charity wasn’t too impressed with their venue at first but Vanessa easily managed to win her around with nothing but a smile, literally nothing but a smile. “Earth to Charity?” Tracey called across the table, reaching out to shake the daydreaming blonde at the other end. Charity snapped out of her thoughts and jumped as her surroundings reappeared in front of her. “What?” She snapped, as she redressed her fiancé in her mind. “You need to focus if you’re going to get this right, or finished by Saturday” Tracey insisted, picking up her phone and twiddling it around in her hands as she watched Charity raise up from her seat. “Oh, what’s the point? I’m rubbish with words” She blurted out, shouting with her hands on her hips. “I’ll never be able to sit here and write down how much she means to me, or how my heart feels like it's going to explode whenever she’s around, because my mind just goes blank. Which is ridiculous because whenever I open my gob, I get verbal diarrhoea and I can’t stop talking, but still everything comes out wrong or twisted and I turn into a bumbling idiot whenever her name is mentioned” she sighed and walked over to the window. As she stared out at the village, watching the wind blow gently through the trees, she calmed down slightly and her defensive anger subdued. “Maybe it’s because deep down I’ll never feel like I actually deserve her or that I am worthy of her love, even though she’s made me a way better person than I ever thought I could be. Every single day I wake up and I just don’t care what the world has in store for me, as long as I get to see her face because then I know that everything is going to be alright, because I’m brave now, and happy and it’s all because of her. I can take on anything that comes my way because she continues to make me feel like I’m invincible” She paused for breath as her voice wavered, her eyes finding the pub as she thought back to a memory that had sprung to mind. “You know she thinks I’m amazing, she told me so herself, but she’s the amazing one. She’s the one who makes every day perfect, she’s the best mum any kid could ask for, she’s strong and she’s funny and she’s beautiful, and I thank my lucky stars every day that we got locked in that cellar together. Because look where it led us, it’s taken me on a rollercoaster of a journey, where I’ve found out what love really feels like. And I know that I’ve done this whole ‘I do’ thing three times already but this is different, I’m actually in love. So, in love that I don’t care who hears it or who knows it. I love her with all of my heart, and I promise you Trace-” She paused again, turning to face Tracey with tears in her eyes, “I will never, ever, hurt her. Getting to know Vanessa and falling in love with her these past few years have been the single greatest thing in my life. And I’m going to hang onto that so tightly, because I never want to know what a day without her is like ever again, I want it to be her and me and our beautiful kids, every day, for the rest of our lives” She cried, with a huge smile plastered across her face as she dared to imagine the future she longed for with the woman who was to be her wife in just a week's time. With the backs of her hands she wiped hot tears from her face and let out a small laugh along with a sigh of relief, as she noticed Tracey was crying happy tears too. Tracey lifted her hand and showed Charity the phone in her clutch. The screen was black but upon it was a play button for a two-minute recording. “I don’t know about you, but I think there may be something on here that would sound amazing as wedding vows” Tracey suggested with a trembling lip. Charity’s mouth dropped open but before she could get embarrassed by the thought of her rambling words being recorded, she snatched the phone from Tracey’s hands and pressed play, finally able to put pen to paper and to see her vows take shape upon it, perfectly reflecting the love that she felt inside.  
Another hour had passed before Charity finished the last line of her vows, and even though Tracey had helped her get her act together to write them, she wouldn’t let her hear the finished version and insisted she waited until the wedding. Tracey groaned like a disappointed child but immediately switched emotion as she felt her pent-up energy explode inside of her as Charity mentioned their hen nights. “I’m so excited” Tracey squealed and clapped and very nearly fell off her chair. “Alright calm down, anyone would think you’ve never been on a hen-do before” Charity scoffed. “Not a lesbian one I haven’t” Tracey told, sounding as if it was meant to be obvious. Charity rolled her eyes playfully and shook her head as she too could feel a little fluttering begin in her stomach as her thoughts turned to a night of partying. “Are you sure you can’t just have a joint party so I can celebrate with you too?” Tracey asked, pouting. “No, it’s bad luck, plus you need to promise me you’ll look after Ness, don’t let her drink too much, I don’t want her walking down the aisle with a hangover”, “What like you, you mean?” Tracey teased. “No, I’ll be fine because I’ll drink like eight pints of water before I go to bed” Charity rambled, making up her reply on the spot knowing full well she won’t actually do that. There was a brief silence between them until Tracey spoke again. “So, the other day you mentioned you had a surprise”, “Yeah, and it’s staying a surprise” Charity snapped. “Oh, come on, I won’t tell V what it is”, “No you flaming well won’t, because I’d kill you”, “Oh please tell me, pretty please?” Tracey begged, getting up close and personal in Charity’s face, taking her by the shoulders and repeating the word ‘please’ until it lost all meaning. “Alright, but you keep that shut” Charity gave in, forcing her palm over Tracey’s mouth. Tracey beamed and took a step back and gestured locking her lips with a key, then proceeded to throw the invisible key over her shoulder. “Ness told me once about a birthday party she had when she was a kid and, your dad had put together a treasure hunt for her and at the end of it she got this massive cuddly toy that she’d had her eye on for weeks that they made her think she wasn't having. So-” She explained but was cut off by Tracey’s excitement, “So you’ve made her a treasure hunt?” She asked, beginning to cry again at the thoughtfulness of Charity's plan. “Yes” Charity huffed as she watched Tracey have a mini break down at the table. “That’s so romantic,” Tracey swooned. “You’re so romantic. Can I marry you instead?” Tracey asked, wiping her tears with the end of her cardigan sleeve. “Taken, sorry babe” Charity held up her hands in a surrender. “So, what’s the treasure then?”, “Nope, that bits staying a secret,” Charity insisted, shaking her head. Tracey sighed and deflated like an old balloon. “Fine, but aww I am so excited for the both of you, and I’m well jel” She giggled, elbowing Charity’s shoulder. “I’m excited too, and I’m bricking it at the same time”, “Don’t be, it’ll be great” Tracey cooed, sneakily glancing down at Charity’s vows. Charity slammed her hand upon the table, hiding her handwriting beneath her palm. “Only one more week to go,” Tracey chirped. Charity pursed her lips and nodded, the final countdown had well and truly started now.  
By the time they had finished up and packed away everything they had been using for last minute wedding prep, the sun was close to setting and Charity remembered that it was her turn to cook, but she really couldn’t be bothered to stand at the cooker for an hour smelling of chip fat. What she really wanted to do was curl up with Vanessa for a romantic night alone without screaming children and bickering teenagers around to dampen the mood. Luckily though, both Sarah and Noah had been invited to a party at a friend's house so getting rid of them would be easy, which only left her with palming off Johnny and Moses. But before she even opened her mouth to ask, Tracey had read the room, grabbed her jacket from the back of her chair and rolled her eyes. “I’ll take the boys off your hands” She laughed, still swooning from her bout of emotion at Charity’s love for her sister. “Saturday night telly and chocolate was always the key to my heart on a Saturday night, until I turned fourteen and started drinking in fields with my mates, so I’m sure Johnny and Moses will be easy enough to entertain, for a second night in a row” Tracey hinted, but really didn’t mind having her nephews to keep her company again. “Thanks, I owe you one” Charity celebrated, grabbing Tracey by the shoulders and laying a loud sloppy kiss on her cheek. “Yeah yeah, you just keep those lips to yourself tonight”, “Ooh, sorry can’t make any promises there” Charity teased. Tracey gagged as she pulled the front door open and escorted Charity out but scoffed as a thought came to mind. “Watch you don’t put your back out again” She said coyly, and then walked on ahead, giggling to herself. Charity stopped in her tracks and then held out her hands to fake throttle Tracey behind her back, pulling a face as she did, but then rushed to catch up with her as they headed down the street towards Jacob’s fold, bickering all the way up to the front door.


	6. Vanessa

Vanessa knew that Charity was on her way home before she could see her figure pass by the window because the unmistakable sound of bickering could be heard near the front door as right on queue her sister and wife to be traipsed inside. Luckily though they seemed to be in a rather playful mood and so she took a sharp exhale of breath, glad that she wasn’t about to be caught up in one of their silly arguments, again. “V will you tell her?” Tracey moaned, jamming her fingers in her ears, following her sentence up with a string of ‘La La La’s’. “Aw God, what’s she done now?” Vanessa joked, throwing her head back. “I was just telling your sister how much I love you” Charity confessed, as she leaned over to kiss her on the forehead from behind the sofa. “And the rest” Tracey huffed trying desperately to block out the unwanted images formed in her mind of Charity’s very detailed description of her love. “Aw that’s nice” Vanessa cooed, enjoying the attention either way, “What are you doing back here anyway? Are you stopping for tea? Although I have to warn you, Charity’s cooking tonight” Vanessa laughed to herself. “No, no, I came to steal away Johnny and Moses for the night, again” She said, shooting a glance at Charity as she spoke. “Oh? How come?”, “Charity wants to show you how much she loves you” Tracey mumbled, not daring to look at the expressions on either of their faces as Vanessa connected the dots to her sugar-coated words. Though unfortunately for her; Vanessa’s lips slipped out a quiet growl as she allowed Charity to pull her close for another kiss, this time on the lips. “Oh, please wait until I’ve left before you go ripping each other’s clothes off” Tracey cried, using her hand to cover her eyes. “That wouldn’t take very long” Charity flirted as she tugged at the cord on Vanessa’s dressing gown and peered down at her cleavage beneath the Criss crossed material . Vanessa giggled but pulled herself away from her before she accidentally exposed herself. “Talking about leaving, are Sarah and Noah around?” Charity asked, cocking her head to see if she could hear either of their voices muffled from up the stairs. “Nope, left about an hour ago. I thought I was going to have to fight Sarah over the length of her skirt but luckily my amazing compromising skills meant it didn’t end in raised voices after all” Vanessa told, “Oh? What did you give her? Not more money?”, “Uh no, an extra hour out in exchange for an age appropriate outfit” Vanessa said proudly with a smug smile. Charity let her head bounce from side to side as she weighed up the compromise in her head before nodding her agreement. “Ah, so that just leaves the gruesome twosome then” Charity joked. “Boys'' she added, shouting up the stairs for Johnny and Moses. “I’ll go'' Vanessa smiled and she ran up to help their little ones quickly get ready for another sleepover with their favourite auntie. As a short silence filled up the room around them, Charity awkwardly slipped her hands into the back pockets of her jeans and took a few steps over to the kitchen in order to catch Tracey’s eye. “Trace, on a serious note though, thank you for your help today. I’ve been stuck in such a rut trying to get my feelings written down-” She spoke softly to make sure Vanessa couldn’t overhear them, “You’re welcome” Tracey beamed, “What you said was beautiful so I’m sure what you got from the recording is super special and that V will love it”, “I hope so” Charity smiled shyly as her insides started to flutter again just thinking about her vows. As they stood smiling at one another, Vanessa briskly reappeared with an overnight bag and Johnny and Moses, who were already in their matching dinosaur pyjamas. “Oh wow” Tracey exclaimed as Moses interrupted them as he pulled forcefully at the hem of his t-shirt to proudly show off the cartoon T-Rex upon it. The two boys giggled while they roared ferociously at one another for a moment. “Alright, Alright, you little terrors. Pop your coats on, we don’t want to keep Auntie Tracey waiting any longer, do we?” Charity called out over the racket as the room filled with laughter and rubbish dinosaur impressions, easily slipping back into her teasing of Tracey by winking at her over boys' heads. Tracey cringed and immediately knelt down to help the kids put on their shoes as Vanessa forced their stumpy little arms into their coats, zipping them up nice and warm, while Charity stood laughing to herself. “Any problems, just give me a text and I’ll get back to you” Vanessa insisted, “When possible” Charity butted in, slipping her arm around Vanessa’s waist. Tracey sighed at yet another of Charity’s attempts to gross her out but didn’t take the bite. Instead, she smiled and took the boys hands and headed for the door. “Well, goodnight then” She said with an awkward bow that reflected the confusion on all of their faces as she stood upright again. “Yeah, goodnight” Charity rushed over to the door with pursed lips and quickly locked it the second they stepped over the threshold. As their sons headed back over to Tug Ghyll, Vanessa could feel her heart begin to pound in her chest as she and Charity finally found themselves alone. Slowly, Charity turned to face her and for just a moment they stood completely still with their eyes locked on one another before Charity ran her tongue across her lip and launched herself forwards. Vanessa let out a loud squeal and a burst of adrenaline coursed through her as she was chased across the room and up the stairs. When they made it to the top, their hurried footsteps quietened and their flirtatious laughter died out behind passionate kisses as they reached their bedroom and slammed the door shut behind them.   
The doorbell rang unexpectedly early and made Charity and Vanessa jump at the sound of its ringing causing them both to glance towards the clock. “Well that’s the fastest they’ve ever been” Charity mentioned, as she rose from the sofa. “Good cause I am starving” Vanessa replied. The two of them almost bumped into each other and ended up looking as if they had burst into an unplanned dance as they attempted to sidestep past one another on their way to opposite sides of the room. “Hi, thank you, thank you” Charity emphasised her words as she handed over a handful of cash in exchange for the takeaway they had ordered, while the loud clattering and clanging of cutlery echoed from the kitchen as Vanessa prepared their plates. The letterbox fluttered as the door closed and Charity rushed to the coffee table as their hot food began to burn at her fingertips. “Smell that” She called out excitedly, inhaling a deep breath as the room filled with the distinct scent of sweet and sour sauce. One by one she unloaded the little silver cartons and with one of the forks Vanessa had brought over she scooped out their contents onto the plates. “Aw no” Vanessa gasped as she rummaged around inside the now empty plastic bag. “What?” Charity asked, turning her head quickly to see what was wrong. “They forgot the prawn crackers” Vanessa replied, poking out her bottom lip as she thought about eating her food without the sound of rice crackling upon the little white crackers. “What? I’m not having that” Charity overreacted, “No wonder it came so soon-”, “No, Charity please don’t make a fuss. The last time you called a restaurant to complain they black listed us” Vanessa sighed, not wanting to be banned from ordering from another Chinese takeaway. “But babe, prawn crackers” Charity stressed, gesturing to the empty bag with her outstretched hands. “It’s fine, we’ll just stick a comment in the box next time and ask for double”, “Demand double” Charity insisted. Vanessa took a deep inhale which caused her shoulders to rise as they both looked at their cracker less dinners in disappointment but dug in anyway.  
Cuddling on the sofa had become a favourite pastime of Vanessa’s as of late. Saving for the wedding had meant they were forced to spend more weekends at home rather than at the pub or swanky restaurants but she really didn’t mind, she much preferred relaxing at home being Charity’s big spoon while they watched old TV dramas or cheesy 80s movies in the dark. “There’s a jumpy part coming, I can sense it” Charity whispered, her head resting upon Vanessa’s chest. “Shh” Vanessa whispered as she patted down Charity’s hair as it had now gotten in the way as she tried to see over the top of her head. “Oh, I can’t look,” Charity squirmed as the character on the screen took a corner under the night sky, and so she held her hand over her eyes but parted her fingers so she could still see between them. “He should have stayed home, she’s going to get him now” Vanessa spoke softly, anticipating the villain’s next move. Charity’s body tensed up against Vanessa’s and so she subconsciously gave her a little comforting squeeze. Eerie music trickled through the speakers as the big murder scene began to build up tension on screen and as a terrifying screech sounded and the flash of a knife became visible on screen, a loud banging and shouting thundered from the living room window. In unison, Charity and Vanessa screamed in horror only to find Sarah and Noah laughing on the other side of the glass. Vanessa’s heart skipped a beat but she laughed it off with the kids as they fell through the door in hysterics. Charity on the other hand had clutched her chest in fear and took a moment longer to realise that there was no real danger. “You pair of bloody idiots” She shouted, her words coming out in bursts as she threw a cushion at each of them as hard as she could. “You should have seen your faces” Sarah howled, pointing and falling into Noah as she laughed. Noah had managed to catch one of the cushions and threw it back at his mother who now sat perched on the end of the sofa attempting to catch her breath. “Did you think the big scary monster was going to get you?” Noah asked in a feigned sacred voice as he thrusted the cushion back at her. “It wasn’t a monster actually, it was a person so it was much more realistic, thank you very much” Charity snapped, kicking herself on the inside that she had let the kids see how much they had actually frightened her. “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you,” Vanessa chuckled, wrapping her arms around Charity, who attempted to wriggle free from her grasp. “Oh, you will, will you? Cause I could have actually died just now but I didn’t see you protecting me then babe?” Charity gasped, trying to make Vanessa feel bad for laughing rather than jumping to her defence. Vanessa rolled her eyes. “Drama Queen” She muttered. Charity turned and smiled smugly, and forced the cushion that was on her lap into Vanessa’s face, which only made her laugh again. “Did you have a good night? We weren’t expecting you just yet” Vanessa spoke, surprised that two rebellious teenagers had not only come home on time, but half an hour early too. “Yeah it was alright, I couldn’t get a taxi so we jumped in with a mate from school” Sarah explained. “Aw, you should have phoned, I’d have come and picked you up”, “Erm, no don’t ever do that. It would be bad enough being seen being picked up by my Mum, never mind my Granny’s wife” Sarah laughed. “Granny’s wife?” Vanessa repeated Sarah’s description and pulled a face at the sudden realisation that she was right, she would soon technically be her and Jack’s step-grandmother. “Granny’s wife” Charity laughed not remembering that she was the said ‘Granny’ in the conversation. “Oi you. Anyway, I’m not your wife yet” Vanessa teased. “Ooh, yet” Charity mocked, poking Vanessa playfully until they both giggled excitedly like schoolgirls. “And on that note, I’m off to bed” Noah breathed, not wanting to witness his mother snogging, or anything else, as the supposed ‘adults’ once again turned the conversation into a soppy love fest. “Aw not without a goodnight kiss from your mother” Charity cried out playfully, rising from the sofa to attempt to kiss her teenage son, who proceeded to run up the stairs as fast as he could. Charity stopped at the bottom of the stairs and laughed to herself as Noah shot her a smile from the top. “Goodnight” Sarah breathed as she too followed Noah’s lead and headed up the stairs to bed. “Goodnight” Charity nodded. While her back was still turned, Vanessa snook over to the staircase and crept up on Charity, and grabbed her by the hips and laughed maniacally. Once again, Charity let out a scream and felt her legs turn to jelly for a moment before Vanessa’s face appeared clearly before her, her eyes wrinkled with laughter. “Idiot” She muttered. “You love me though” Vanessa whispered, popping her arms around Charity’s neck, leaning in for another kiss. “Do I?” Charity questioned, but broke rank with a small smile and kissed her anyway. “Yes, I do” she then followed up as they broke away again. “Not long until we’ll be saying those words for real” Vanessa smiled, looking up into Charity’s eyes. “Are you nervous?” Charity asked quietly. Vanessa tilted her head, wondering why Charity seemed so down all of a sudden. “It’s just. You are going to turn up, right? You’re not going to leave me waiting at the aisle. Cause if you get cold feet and don’t want to marry me anymore-” She rushed. “Where’s all this come from?” Vanessa interrupted. She felt a wave of emotion come over her and wanted to scoop Charity up into her arms. “Of course, I want to marry you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you” She insisted, as she took her face in her hands. “I’m sorry. I’m just so used to messing everything up and wrecking everything good in my life. And I really don’t want to mess up what I have with you” Charity explained. “And you won’t. We’re in this together, you, me and the kids. We’re a family” Vanessa cooed and rubbed her thumb across Charity’s cheek, making her smile in the process. “I am nervous though. Not about turning up or anything like that. I’m nervous about hearing these vows of yours. And how dirty they’re going to be, or-”, “Dirty?” Charity gasped, a sparkle starting to appear in her eye. “What do you take me for? There we’ll be standing in front of all our friends and family and you think I’m going to say something rude?” Charity teased, her mood lightening back up tremendously. “Well, I wouldn’t put it past you” Vanessa giggled. “Why, what were you expecting me to say?” Charity cocked her head and brought her lips to Vanessa’s ear and whispered. Small goosebumps scattered across her skin as her warm breath cascaded with her neck and she whispered sweet nothings to her while pulling her in closer. “Something like that?” She asked, trying her best to look innocent as Vanessa began to fluster and blush. “Or, maybe something like this?” She purred and once again she spoke of naughty fantasies that made Vanessa fidget. Frustrated, she bit down on her lip and allowed Charity to whisk her over to the sofa with a hint that she knew what was about to happen.


	7. Charity

It was Chas’ turn to open up the pub the following morning, and so Charity finally had a rare Sunday to herself. She rose cheerfully and well rested at nine o’clock to the quiet chirping of the birds that had decided to build their nest in the guttering of Jacob’s Fold. As the birds sang in springtime song, she flung the warm duvet off her body and stuffed her feet into Vanessa’s slippers, deciding to slip into ‘domestic mode’, as she liked to call it, and nip downstairs to make breakfast for Vanessa, while she snoozed away peacefully undisturbed beneath the blankets. As she made her way down the stairs, carefully avoiding that one step that always creaked loudly when stepped on, she tiptoed into the kitchen and gently tugged at the handle upon the fridge and took out a bottle of milk and the almost empty tub of butter. With one hand she flicked the kettle on and with the other she popped some bread into the toaster then proceeded to claw at a tin of beans that had scuffled its way to the back of the cupboard. As her fingertips just about skimmed the tin she realised how hard it must be for Vanessa to do this for the kids most mornings and so she giggled to herself as she thought about buying her a step ladder for practicality, but mainly for a joke at her own expense, although the smile on her face faded as she thought about the look Vanessa would give her if she pointed out anything contributing towards her tiny height ever again, so she knocked the idea on the head. As she stood lost in a daydream while the microwave warmed up half of the tin of baked beans, the toaster popped alongside the kettle and snapped her back to reality, where she then got on with making the rest of the breakfast, keeping a watchful eye on the microwave so that its incessant beeping wouldn’t scream the house down and wake everybody up. When she was all finished, steam danced from two fat mugs of tea and caressed that of the single plate of beans on toast as she carried the breakfast up on a tray. “Woah” she fumed, with a sharp exhale of breath as her foot collided with one of the kids shoes that had been left laying at the bottom of the stairs. “Stupid kids are trying to kill me” She muttered to herself as she kicked the tiny shoe flying across the room before making the rest of the journey up the stairs. The bedroom door rested on the latch and made for an easy push as she used her elbow to open it, revealing a stirring Vanessa inside. “Good Morning” Charity beamed proudly as she and the breakfast appeared in Vanessa’s line of sight. “Aw” Vanessa gasped, placing one hand over her heart as she realised, she was receiving a surprise breakfast in bed. Charity’s smile almost touched her ears as she placed the tray down on Vanessa’s lap. “Are you not having anything?” She asked, her eyes still in puppy dog form as she noticed just the one plate sitting before her. “Me, eat my cooking? Never” Charity joked as she took a sip of piping hot tea that burned her lip. Vanessa shook her head playfully and began to slice away at the two rounds of burnt toast hiding beneath a mountain of beans. “Thank you” She added as she took her first bite. “You’re welcome” Charity breathed and popped a small kiss upon her forehead. “You’re in a good mood” Vanessa jibed, wondering if her other half was up to something. “Yes well, I had a rather good night” She teased, “And I feel like doing something nice today, with you and the kids before we start running around like headless chickens the rest of the week” She added, referring to their busy ‘last minute wedding prep’ that they had organized rather chaotically. “What do you fancy?” Vanessa asked with her mouth full. “I don’t know, I might see what Noah and Sarah fancy doing”, “Nothing out in public then” Vanessa scoffed at the very thought of the teenagers daring to be seen dead with them. “Well, they have no choice this time, after practically scaring me to death last night, they owe me one”, “That was hilarious” Vanessa recalled as she pictured Charity’s frightened face. “Yes alright, thank you babe” Charity scoffed. “In fact, I might go get one over on them now” She grinned. “Please don’t, it’ll only end in a mess that I’ll have to clean up” Vanessa begged. “No, it won’t, I promise no mess” Charity spoke menacingly. Before Vanessa could say or do anything to stop her, Charity was out of the room and creeping across the landing like a burglar. Vanessa shook her head and paid no attention to Charity’s pranking antics, not wanting to get involved in what was only ever going to become a war zone, and instead focused on eating her breakfast in peace.  
Every morning, like clockwork, Sarah and Noah would end up fighting over who would get to shower first, due to the lack of hot water left behind by whoever had managed to sneak in before the other, and so Charity knew her plan to scare them senseless was one of her best ideas in a while. Quietly, she climbed into the bath and pulled the shower curtain across, hiding herself inside and waited to hear movement coming from their bedrooms. Sarah had woken up first and shuffled her way across the landing and politely knocked at Charity and Vanessa’s bedroom door. “Morning, that looks… nice” Sarah said, clearly pointing towards Vanessa’s surprise breakfast. Charity screwed up her face at the thought of them making fun of her attempt at romance which made her all the more adamant to scare Sarah when she inevitably came to the bathroom. Soon after, Noah emerged from behind his locked door, which he had been told a million times not to do at night. Charity clenched her fists in momentarily frustration as she heard the lock slide out of the bolt. Another reason the kids deserved to be scarred for life. For what seemed like hours, Charity waited barefoot in the cold tub and almost considered giving up, when finally, there was movement and raised voices as Sarah announced she was heading to the shower. “No way, it’s my turn to go first” Noah boomed. “Um no, you went first twice in the week” Sarah argued back, and in no time a fight broke out and the sound of scuffling and barging could be heard over the sound of their approaching footsteps. Charity felt a quick burst of adrenaline course through her body as she readied herself to scream in their faces with her hands clawed out in front of her like a monster. Through the shower curtain Charity saw the bathroom door open, and a figure grew closer as the arguing continued. She counted back from three in her head as a hand reached out and gripped the curtain, then with a big roar, Charity’s voice filled the bathroom as she not so brilliantly executed her prank. A loud scream echoed among them and Charity’s face dropped into a fear of her own as she found Vanessa on the receiving end. “Oh babe, I’m sorry, I’m sorry” Charity panicked, fearing for her life as Vanessa stopped screaming and glared at her, her eyes seemingly boring right into her head. Heart racing at the unexpected scare, Vanessa immediately knew what to do to punish Charity, and she didn’t even have to say a word to do so, she just reached out her hand and yanked the pull switch above her head. The gentle sound of the generator hummed as the shower turned on. Sarah and Noah stood open mouthed in the doorway as Charity became drenched from head to toe. Quickly Sarah snapped a photo of her soaking wet, fully clothed Granny. “Charity’s having the first shower today” Vanessa said flatly as she turned and walked out of the room, her messy ponytail swinging as she closed the door behind her, leaving Charity standing alone in the tub, dripping wet.  
Eventually, Charity felt brave enough to show her face again. After her unexpected shower, she had changed into clean clothes and came downstairs with her soggy pyjamas in a basket, along with all the other dark washing from the basket in the bathroom. She hated doing the laundry but knew she was going to have to work hard to get back into Vanessa’s good books, so without grumbling she headed over to the washing machine and loaded it up with powder. Vanessa was sat upon the sofa reading a magazine and had obviously heard her arriving in the room but was blatantly ignoring her. Charity caught Sarah’s eye as she craned her neck to see her and Noah sat at the table eating bowls of cereal. “You’re in trouble” Sarah giggled, with a smug smile on her face. Charity wanted to pull a face back but was afraid Vanessa would see so instead she remained quiet and carried on putting the washing inside the machine. Not knowing which button was the right one to start the wash, Charity began pressing them all hoping that one of them would start the cycle. Noah let out a quiet but deep laugh from behind his spoon that caught Vanessa’s attention. Without noticing, Charity continued panicking beside the washing machine as Vanessa came over and pressed the very obvious power button that she had overlooked. “Thank you” Charity mouthed. Vanessa folded her arms and walked away, but unbeknownst to Charity, with a secret smile on her face as she winked at the kids for playing along. “So, uh, you guys want to do something nice today?” Charity asked in a small voice, still thinking she was in the dog house with her family. “Like what?” Noah asked with a shrug. “Anything you want” Charity ushered. “Arcade” Noah answered with one word. “Bowling” Sarah added. “Ok great. V?” Charity turned to her fiancé shyly. “Yes?”, “I’m sorry for scaring you” She mumbled as she played with her shirt sleeves. Vanessa was struggling to keep up with her poker face and could feel a smile breaking through, so she looked at the kids who were also trying to hide their smiles by this point. “Apology accept-” She began but broke off as she turned her interest somewhere over Charity’s shoulder. “What’s that?” She asked in a raised voice, full of pretend panic. Charity stiffened for a split second but styled it out smoothly. “What? I’m not going to fall for that” She announced smugly, but as she did, she felt two hands grab onto her shoulders. As she whipped her head around to scream, the rest of the room filled with laughter as it was made clear that Tracey had let herself in through the back door, with the kids. “Oh my God, I actually scared you then, didn’t I?” Tracey gushed, proud of herself. “I hate all of you” Charity cried out, but joined in on the laughter at her expense when she realised, she was now back in Vanessa’s good books. “Come here, you silly mare” Vanessa chuckled and pulled Charity in close for a hug. Johnny and Moses ran across the room where they were scooped up off the floor and into their mother's arms. “Hey you two, how do you fancy a nice fun day out?” Vanessa asked, looking to both boys for their reaction. A mixture of ‘yes’ and ‘yay’ was shouted out in excitement. “Yay” Vanessa joined in, “And, Mummy Charity is paying for everything, yay” She whooped. Charity’s face was a picture as she placed one hand on her hip. “Fine” She announced, “But you’re driving”, “Uh, no way, besides we won’t all fit in the car together. I’ll phone for a taxi” Vanessa said. “I’ll do it” Tracey chirped, whipping her phone from her pocket. “What? You’re not coming and all?” Charity moaned, “Yes I am” Tracey retaliated. “You don’t even know where we’re going?”, “Don’t care, I’m in” She boasted. Charity rolled her eyes, “Fine. The more the merrier I guess” She muttered to herself, but deep down she liked that Tracey was coming along, she could keep the kids in toe when they inevitably became filled with sugar.


	8. Vanessa

By lunchtime, they had all arrived at the bowling alley in Hotton and were excited to get inside and knock down some pins. On the journey out of the village, they had tried to come up with nicknames for each other to enter into the system but kept changing them before anything could stick. As everybody piled out of the taxi, Vanessa paid the driver generously, mostly as an apology for Moses spilling his juice carton all over the back seat, but thankfully the driver assured them that it was fine and wished them a lovely day. Though, Vanessa couldn’t help but notice the rainbow flag air freshener that he had dangled from his mirror in the front, so it was more than likely that he had realised that they too were members of the lgbtq community, which filled her with a welcomingly, warm feeling that she had not often felt from strangers. “Hurry up,” Tracey called out as she stood between the automatic doors of the bowling alley, causing them to jolt open and closed as their little gang rushed inside. “Thank you” Vanessa nodded to the taxi driver and then jogged over to join the rest of her family in the foyer. “I hope these kids know we’re going to kick their arses” Charity laughed quietly into her ear, as she popped her arm around her waist. Vanessa shook her head, “No, we’re obviously going to let them win, Charity, they’re four” she said very matter of fact. “I know how old they are. Anyway, I was referring to the older ones” She added as she pulled open the zip of her bag and let out a friendly grin to the young man on the front desk. “Hi, three adults, two teens and two children for bowling please” Vanessa politely informed, as Charity dug around her handbag for her purse, now wishing she had ‘accidentally’ left it at home. “Okay great, if you’d like to come on over, I’ll set you up with some shoes” another young man beamed, and he led them over to a small waiting area where he took the foot size of each of them, and then proceeded to hunt down the appropriate shoes. “Right, you lot better appreciate this day out because it just cost me a fortune” Charity moaned as she joined them after paying. “Aw, don’t be so tight” Tracey scolded with a smile as the young guy reappeared with a trolley full of flat shoes for them to change into. “I think these are for you” He bleated on bended knee as he passed Johnny and Moses a pair of velcroid shoes, each in the same tiny size. “And here you go” He muttered as he reached over and handed Sarah the next pair. “They’re not mine” She scoffed as she noticed the numbering inside was two sizes too small for her. “They’re mine” Vanessa sighed, without giving eye contact to the boy, who then apologised for assuming while the rest of them laughed at the mix up. “Right, are we all ready?” Charity called out over the hubbub once she’d noticed everyone had fastened their new shoes and popped their other ones into the little trays on the trolley. “Yes” Moses shouted, causing Johnny to join in as they jumped up and down on the spot. “Alright let’s go then, last one there’s paying for all the sweets” Charity cried, and was then taken aback while she was left stranded as every last one of them ran off to find their lane.   
“No, you can’t put the borders up, that’s cheating” Noah told Sarah as she hogged control of the little settings computer. “Only the kids should have them up” He added as he looked to Vanessa for a nod of approval. “That’s me not hitting a single pin then” Vanessa laughed, nudging Tracey’s arm as she did. “Well, I’m glad we’re not playing as Woodfield’s vs Dingle’s then, if you’re that bad” Tracey replied, nudging her sister back while the two little ones tried to lift up the heavy balls from the stand. “Hi, remember me?” Charity’s voice sounded from behind as she finally found them at the sixteenth alley. “Trace, don’t look now, but I think that gorgeous woman is talking to me” Vanessa whispered, loud enough for Charity to hear. With that, Charity dropped the pile of coats that she’d lugged across the room; onto Tracey’s lap, and took Vanessa’s hand, pulling her up from the sticky leather sofa for a quick kiss. “These gorgeous women want a drink, so go get them in Trace” Charity announced as she threw her purse at her with a bit more force than she intended. “Fine” Tracey huffed as it bounced off her chest and onto the floor, then she pushed the kids coats aside and climbed to her feet. “Mum, what were you going to be called again?” Noah asked. “Oh, I don’t know, just put anything down,” Charity told. Sarah rolled her eyes and typed out the word ‘Bossy’ and pressed enter, listing it alongside the others. When she returned moments later with the drinks, a couple of cokes for the kids and a bottle of wine for the adults. “Right, I’ve sorted us into two teams” Sarah announced proudly after finally finishing the setup. “Team one, Queen S, Lil No, Dinosaur-man and Bob?” Vanessa read aloud, a little confused as she deciphered who was who. “Versus team two, Bossy, Tiny and Blondie” Charity read aloud, “What that’s us is it?” She added, gesturing with her thumb between herself, Vanessa and Tracey. “Old versus young” Noah joked, making an already hyperactive Moses laugh again. “Alright, Son” Charity breathed, pushing her palm into his face. “We’ll see who’s laughing when the game is over” she added with a smile as she rolled up her sleeves ready to bowl.   
“You’re supposed to aim for the pins and knock them down, Tracey, not lob it down the guttering” Charity moaned as Tracey missed every pin for the second time in a row. “Yeah, I know but it’s not my fault, that runway thing is lopsided” She shouted back in her defence. “I don’t think it is” Vanessa scoffed, as Sarah stepped up to the dotted line, ball in hand and concentrated on her aim, so Charity rose from the sofa and crept over to her quietly. Sarah pulled her arm backwards and just as she was about to release her grip, Charity faked a loud, deep cough. “Stop trying to sabotage me” Sarah shouted, accusing her Granny of ruining her shot. “What? I just needed to cough Sarah” Charity lied in a sing-songy voice. “Get back over here” Vanessa laughed from behind her wine glass. Charity rolled her eyes and went to sit down and behave herself until it was her turn. Sarah took to the spot once again and threw her ball with force, knocking down seven pins. She shrugged her shoulders while she waited for her ball to return, then once again sent it flying down the alley, hitting one of the remaining three pins. “Not bad” Vanessa implied. “I’d like to see you do better” She confessed, picking up her drink and sipping from the straw without breaking eye contact. Vanessa smiled smugly and grabbed the closest ball to her. “Go on, babe” Charity cheered, as she began to get too competitive against the kids. Vanessa squinted her eyes and breathed out calmly and deeply as she lined up her shot, then she too pulled back her arm and released the ball with force. They all watched closely as it travelled straight down the middle of the alley, and then seemingly in slow motion; knocked down all ten pins. Having not expected to do that well, Vanessa jumped and spun around with a big grin on her face. “Have some of that” She jeered in both Sarah and Noah’s faces, before receiving a team hug from her fiancé and sister. “I have no idea how I just did that, that was an absolute fluke” She mumbled to them so that the kids wouldn’t hear. “Fake it till you make it” Tracey muttered with a laugh. “Noah, you’re up. Or should I say ‘Lil No’” Charity joked at Noah’s rap inspired nickname. Noah rolled his eyes and picked up a blue ball, twice the size of the ones his family had used so far. Without saying a word, he hurled his ball hard and fast and in the blink of an eye, he too knocked down all ten pins. “Have some of that” he shouted to Vanessa, mimicking her as he cockily flopped back down on the sofa. Though on separate teams, Charity shrugged her shoulders. “Well, what can I say. He gets it from his mum” She announced proudly. Vanessa pulled a face and grabbed a handful of sweets from the bowl on the table. Charity took her turn, poking the tip of her tongue as she watched her slow ball run along the aisle, curling to the left as it travelled and eventually hit down just one of the end pins. Noah laughed out loud. “You’re going to have to start naming which mum I take after in future” he joked, thinking his comment was a hilarious insult, but both Charity and Vanessa felt a burst of joy as they heard his words, and smiled widely to one another as they locked eyes.

The kids won by a landslide, but Tracey kept on insisting on the way to the arcade next door, that she had only scored so poorly because she’d let them win, and that it would be a whole different game next time around, though nobody believed her. Their loud laughter seemed like nothing in comparison to the racket of loud voices and bumping music as they entered the arcade. It was swarming with children and gangs of teenagers inside, which immediately stressed Vanessa out because she knew they were going to lose one of the kids at least once in the time they were going to be there. Immediately, Johnny and Moses ran off in opposite directions, causing Charity and Vanessa to split and run after each of them. Moses had spotted a small safari jeep ride and had climbed inside and was furiously turning the steering wheel, whilst Johnny had climbed onto a small carousel horse and was kicking his legs excitedly at its sides like a jockey. The rides cost £2 and Charity and Vanessa stared at each other boredly from across the room as each ride slowly jolted back and forth on the spot for an agonising three minutes. When the rides finally came to a still, each mother took hold of their son's hands and dragged them back over to Tracey, Sarah and Noah, who were using Charity’s purse to insert note after note into the token machine. “Blimey how much have you just fleeced me of?” Charity scolded, looking into her almost empty purse, noticing that just a few pound coins and coppers remained. “Only ten quid each,” Noah shrugged, as if it was no big deal. “Oh right, only £40 pounds then” Charity faked enthusiasm. “Seventy” Sarah mumbled. Charity’s head turned so fast it looked as if she’d either been possessed or had turned into an owl. “How much?” She gasped, “Well we thought you’d want to have a go at something too” Sarah explained, nodding towards the three adults. Charity threw her head back and took a deep breath. “You know what, fine, fine. But don’t go asking for anymore because you’re not having it” She told, as the many silver tokens fluttered out of the machine and into the tray beneath it. Vanessa counted out ten tokens for each person and dropped them into their individual plastic tubs, but kept back hers and Charity’s twenty silver coins in one pot. “Why do I ever suggest leaving the house?” Charity asked. “Because you love us” Vanessa responded, wrapping her arm around Charity’s waist. “Besides, if we didn’t come out today, we wouldn’t be able to race each other on Mario Kart” She added, pointing out two red chairs and a steering wheel attached to a computer. “Oh, it is on” Charity whispered. Then like a shot, they darted across the room and piled themselves onto the red leather seats. “Ha, you might have beat me to the chair, but you won’t beat me to the finish line” Vanessa laughed, forcing the coins into the provided slots. “Bring it on, babe” Charity muttered under her breath as they revved their engines in the starting position. “Remind me, who the kids are again?” Tracey’s voice sounded from behind, as she and the kids surrounded them. “Not now, Trace” Vanessa warned as the countdown began. After three seconds, they were off, speeding down an obstacle course with ten other computerised characters, slipping on banana peels and throwing shells at one another. “Go on Mum” Noah cheered as Charity’s character grew triple in size after darting through a mystery box. “Vanessa, Vanessa, Vanessa” Sarah chanted, taking the opposing side. On the third and final lap, it looked as if Vanessa was going to take the win over Charity, who was just behind in second position. Up ahead the black and white checked finish line came into view and Vanessa was just seconds away from crossing it when her kart was hit by a red shell, sending her somersaulting into the air, allowing Charity’s character to whiz by and cross the line in first position. “Yes, get in there” Charity whooped as her screen proclaimed her the winner with a half second lead. “No way, I was winning right the way around” Vanessa exclaimed. “Yeah well that’s what happens when you use up all your boxes too soon” Charity insisted as she high fived Noah, victorious.   
After various rides, shooting at zombies, a competitive match at air hockey and cheating their way through a basketball shootout, the kids were finally out of tokens but still managed to take Charity’s last penny to drop into a slot machine, where both Johnny and Moses happened to win back eighteen pence and two packets of fizzy love heart sweets. Sarah had won a knock off disney plush from the claw machine, Noah had killed enough Zombies to trade his tickets for a football and Tracey had used her last token to buy a big tub of retro sweets, which she was reluctant to share with anyone else. With just two tokens left in the tub Vanessa had been carrying around, all seven of them decided to tightly squeeze themselves into a tiny photobooth so that a computer could draw their faces. As the hand with the pencil quickly squiggled away on the screen, stopping every so often to erase a planned mistake on one or two of their faces, they all squirmed and fidgeted, trying their best to see the screen over one anothers heads, after having pulled a silly face for one photo and smiling nicely for a family portrait for the second. When the two portraits were finished, they popped out of the printer accompanied by a protective envelope. “Aw, I love these” Vanessa chirped, smiling happily at their crazy family. “We’ll have to get some frames,” She added. “We’ll have to get some dinner, I’m starving” Noah announced to the room as he practiced some kick ups with his new ball. “Chicken nuggets” Moses shouted loudly. “Hotdog” Johnny called out even louder. Vanessa glanced at her watch and noticed that it was quite late in the afternoon. “I’ll have Nachos,” Sarah shrugged. Charity sighed, hoping everyone would have filled up on Tracey’s sweets by now and forgotten about getting dinner out. “And let me guess, I’m paying for all the grub too?” She asked, already knowing the answer. “To be fair, you were the last one to the lane” Vanessa pointed out. Charity threw her head back. “Come on then” She groaned, leading the way over to the food court near the bar. “I think I’ll have a liquid lunch” She mumbled to herself, credit card at the ready.


	9. Charity

Charity had been both looking forward to and dreading Monday morning. It was already the worst day of the week but this Monday in particular was going to be hectic, stressful and exciting all at once. With only six days left until they were to walk down the aisle, both brides had their final dress fitting, along with their bridesmaids, the best man and ring bearers. Vanessa had set an alarm that had woken them up earlier than needed and so they found themselves ready ahead of schedule, leaving them with around half an hour to kill before their taxis were due to arrive to pick them all up. Tracey had arrived at Jacob’s Fold first, extremely excited and bright eyed, which Charity found far too overbearing to be around at nine o’clock in the morning. So, whilst she squeaked to Vanessa about how much she couldn’t wait to see her in her dress again, Charity headed outside to wait for Chas. “Hi Gran” Sarah breathed as she sat beside her granddaughter, who was watching her phone more intently than the little ones that she was supposed to be keeping an eye on in the garden. Charity and Vanessa had decided to give all four of their kids the day off school to attend the fitting, in the hopes that they’d agree to go for the rest of the week, because Charity had sussed out that Sarah had a plan over the weekend. She kept offering to help out with waiting at home for packages or nipping into Hotton to pick things up and as much as it would be a big help to have someone do all of that for them, she needed to be in school. “Hey” Charity replied as she smiled, watching Moses pushing Johnny on the swing. “Are you okay?” Sarah asked, sensing that Charity was a little on the quiet side. “Yeah, I think so. I’m just a bit nervous” She spoke, with a slight wobble in her words. “Well don’t be, your dress is amazing, and Vanessa’s is dead nice too” Sarah told. Charity looked up with a smirk. “What’s it like? Vanessa’s dress” Charity asked in a whisper. “I’m not telling you,” Sarah laughed. “But she looks so nice in it, you’re going to be blown away when you see her”, “I always am” Charity mumbled, mostly to herself. “Aww, isn’t that nice” A sarcastic, sweet voice sounded from the back door. “Shut up” Charity scoffed, rolling her eyes as her cousin laughed, leaning against the door frame. “It would appear that I arrived just on time for once, the taxis are here” Chas motioned, pointing her thumb over her shoulder. “Oh God, right. Boys, come on it’s time to go” Charity called out across the garden. Inside, it seemed that Rhona had arrived too and was holding the front door open for them to all usher out through it before she’d even had the chance to step foot inside. Noah bounded down the stairs last and met Charity in the kitchen. “Do me a favour, lock that door” Charity asked as she paraded the two little ones straight through the house and out to the cars on the pavement, where Vanessa was waiting with the coats that they should have already been wearing. “Jump in there with Mummy” She said, with the slightest bit of stress in her tone. “Hey, calm down” Vanessa hushed, taking Charity by the arm. “Calm down? Me? I don’t need to calm down, I’m as cool as a cucumber me” Charity babbled. Vanessa raised an eyebrow. “Stop stressing, it’s going to be fine, see you there” she winked, then kissed Charity on the cheek before climbing into the taxi with the boys, Tracey and Rhona. “Come on, Mum” Noah shouted from the other taxi, after already locking up and fastening his seatbelt beside Sarah and Chas. Charity nodded and gave herself a quick pep talk. She knew she was worrying over nothing and that her nerves had only piped up overnight because there was so much left to do in so little time, and she was really hoping not to need any adjustments made to her dress after gouging on multiple fast-food meals over the weekend. Vanessa’s taxi pulled off with a head start before Charity climbed into her own unnecessary minibus. Once strapped in, the engine turned over. “Follow that car” Chas shouted as the driver chuckled and pulled off. “I’ve always wanted to say that,” she added with a smile, but soon let it drop as she found three sets of embarrassed eyes boring into her.   
The first bridal shop appointment of the day found everyone squeezing into a small room surrounded by white and ivory dresses hung on silver rails, billowing out from against the walls. “Vanessa, welcome back” A friendly face chatted as the kids waved to her from the door. “Hello again” Vanessa smiled, while everyone else took a seat upon two white leather sofas. The lady, whose name Charity couldn’t remember, had gushed about Vanessa being her first ever bride marrying another bride, and ever since they first met, she had been overly infatuated by their relationship. Their original dresser had gone off on her maternity leave, leaving this other lady who Charity had yet to meet in person. So now that she was there in the flesh and wasn’t just speaking over the phone, she was all over Charity like a rash. “Charity, lovely to finally meet you, you’re just as beautiful as I imagined you to be” she shrieked and pulled her into a bear hug. “Help” Charity mouthed to Vanessa over her shoulder, but she looked away pretending not to see her cry for help. “Right, shall we dive straight in?” She asked, gushing at the two of them. “I have the little lads suits right here, so it would be best in my experience to sort them out first so they don’t get bored waiting until last. Plenty of toys in the corner to keep them entertained afterwards” She enthused, reaching up to take down two white bags from the nearest hanger. “Which Mummy is going to do the honour of dressing these little Prince’s?” She asked. Charity looked away to play Vanessa at her own game. “That’ll be me, I guess” Vanessa replied, and so she followed her into the changing room. When the curtain closed, Charity whispered into Chas’ ear. “What’s a good enough excuse to get me the hell out of here?” she asked. Chas scoffed. “You’re not going anywhere, besides she’s lovely, Helen” Tracey insisted. “Of course, her name would have the word Hell in it” Charity mumbled. This time both Chas and Rhona laughed. A few minutes later, Helen squeezed herself out of the changing room and announced that Johnny and Moses were ready to show off their suits, and so she counted back from three and whipped open the curtain to a chorus of ‘aww’s’. After complaining the whole time she’d been there, Charity finally smiled as she saw hers and Vanessa’s boys looking so grown up and handsome in their grey suits. “Wow, look at you two” She grinned, as the boys awkwardly twirled and spun around on the spot. “Don’t they look lovely” Helen beamed. “I don’t think we need to make any alterations for these two, so if you’re happy, that’s your little ring bearers all sorted” She added after pulling at their waistcoats and blazers to double check the give and take of the material. “Great” Charity nodded. Vanessa joined them at the sofa for a better look now that she wasn’t crammed in the corner of the little room and began to fill up as she saw the boys properly. “Ah, there it is, the first tear of the day. Time to get the champers out” Helen bubbled excitedly, and dashed off to fetch a bottle of champagne on ice. “Bit early for this isn’t it?” Charity suggested, as she took a glass from the red-faced lady at five to ten in the morning. “It’s never too early when you’re celebrating love, after all, how many times do we get married?” Helen chuckled, taking a sip. “Four times, apparently” Chas muttered into her flute. Helen almost choked as she swallowed and then almost gave Charity a disappointed look while the others struggled to hide their sniggers. “Well, that’s men for you” She shrugged. Charity smiled awkwardly but loosened up a little when she noticed that Vanessa was laughing along. “Quick change for these young men and then we will move on to the best man” Helen squealed, changing the conversation. Charity grabbed Noah with one hand and pulled him in close. Normally he would push her off him, embarrassed, but he allowed his mother one hug because it was a special occasion, of sorts. Identical in style if not in size, Noah’s suit fit like a glove and was hung back up on the rail with Johnny and Moses’ and zipped into a protective covering, meaning the bridesmaids were up next. As the youngest bridesmaid, Sarah’s dress differed slightly from the others to be more age appropriate and to fit her more comfortably. She had also taken the longest out of the four of them to choose her dress, finally opting for the same A-line style but with added spaghetti straps. “You ready?” Tracey called from behind the curtain, now that the four of them were fastened in. Charity and Vanessa sat together on the sofa, Charity’s arm around Vanessa’s waist as they waited to see their bridesmaids in their dresses, together, for the first time. “Ready” Vanessa nodded, as Charity rubbed her thumb against her side. Once again, Helen counted backwards from three and whipped open the curtain. One by one, the women stepped out into the shop and lined up beside one another for all to see. “Wow” Vanessa mouthed, filling up with warm tears again as she grinned at her sister and friends. “You look amazing,” She added. “Yeah, you look good” Charity agreed, bobbing her head with a straight-lined smile. Sarah and Tracey’s dresses were a pale pink, complimenting of their fair skin, while Chas and Rhona wore a purple that wasn’t quite lilac. Other than that, the dresses were practically identical. Tight around the torso in a chiffon material that floated down to their ankles in length. “Just one or two alterations for these ladies, a nip here and a tuck there” Helen waffled on. Vanessa smiled again as she kept glancing at the ladies up and down, then leaned her head on Charity’s shoulder. Looking down at her little finance, Charity rested her chin on Vanessa’s head and gave her a squeeze, much to Helen’s delight. “Oh, you two may just be my favourite brides ever” She gushed, tilting her head to the side with puppy dog eyes. Not needing any alterations, Chas nipped back behind the curtain and changed back into her regular clothes. “Now, speaking of brides” Helen added, widening those eyes and becoming like a whole other person as she snapped out of her airy-fairy personality and clapped her hands together. “Time for me to go,” Charity said, and she did a little dance that jiggled Vanessa beside her. “See you at home. You’re going to look utterly gorgeous and I can’t wait to see it for myself on Saturday” Charity whispered into Vanessa’s ear. Then she kissed her passionately on the lips and headed out of the store with Chas in tow. “We’ve got an hour to kill” Chas announced, glancing at her watch. “Pub?” She asked, “Yes” Charity agreed, prolonging the ‘s’ sound, then together they walked arm in arm down the road to find somewhere to drink.  
“How do you feel?” Chas asked when they finally headed to the bridal store for Charity’s own dress fitting. “Bricking it” Charity admitted sheepishly. A loud bell rang above their heads as she pushed open the door. “Good Afternoon” two young girls chirped as one from behind a reception desk. “How you doing, Charity?” The brunette one asked from behind bright white teeth. “She’s a bit on the nervy side” Chas answered for her, as Charity gawped at a discreet section of lingerie in the far corner of the room. “Ah, don’t be. It’s going to be fab” The blonde spoke up, putting her phone away to give their client her full attention. “Shall we go on through to the back?” She smiled, holding her arm out for Charity and Chas to step through to another room while the brunette girl dashed off to retrieve Charity’s dress from storage. “Glass of champagne while we wait?” the blonde asked, already having poured four champagne glasses and reached to hand them over before they could answer. “Ooh, cheers” Chas nodded, grabbing hers with both hands. “I don’t think I will” Charity declined, she’d already had one at the other store and two gin and tonics at the pub. “More for us then” The girl giggled, clinking glasses with Chas, who was in her elements sprawled out across a chaise lounge. “Here we are” The other girl announced as she reappeared with Charity’s dress, half visible through the bag as it hung on a silk hanger. “Good luck” Chas chirped as Charity stepped into a changing room that was no more than a wooden box with a lockable door. Charity timidly took off her clothes and stepped into her dress as the young girl swept aside its small train from under their feet. “Pop your arms through” The girl spoke, her voice now soft and gentle as she sensed Charity’s nerves. “So, tell me about your lucky bride” She spoke, as she began to fasten up the many buttons on the back of the dress, starting at her hips. “She’s amazing” Charity began. “I don’t know what I did to deserve her. I’ve always been the type of person who messes everything up or settles, too afraid to chase after the people I really want. You know, this’ll be my sixth wedding, third marriage” She spoke, too embarrassed to look her dresser in the eye. “But this is the first time I’m marrying for love. The rest of them weren't love, not proper love, and not because they were men either, but because they weren’t Vanessa. She brings out the best in me, she makes me feel happy and whole and warm. I’m so lucky to have her”, “Sounds like a lot more than luck if you ask me” The girl told, smiling warmly at Charity. “Yeah?” Charity asked, collecting herself as the last buttoned fastened at the nape of her neck. “Yeah, sounds like true love to me, and that you had to wait this long because the timing wasn’t right. Now that you’re clearly ready to love, properly, you found your soulmate”, “Soulmate?” Charity breathed, “I never believed in that, but I think you might be right” She grinned, feeling small butterflies begin to flutter in her stomach. “I’m always right” The girl bragged, and then stepped back for Charity to take her first look at herself in the mirror. “Oh my God” She whispered as she saw herself as a bride for the first time, and not just Charity Dingle in a wedding dress. “You make a beautiful bride Charity, but I have a strong feeling that this will be your last and best wedding”, “Don’t make me blub” Charity laughed as she looked herself up and down and envisioned herself standing up at Butlers farm, as Vanessa’s wife. “What’s your name?” She asked the girl, realising that she’d not taken the time to ask before even though she had been so nice to her. “Lauren” the girl chirped. “Lauren, thank you” Charity smiled. “Are you ready to step out and show Chas?” she asked with a smile of her own, “As ready as I’ll ever be” Charity nodded. Not knowing that Chas and the other girl had heard every word that She and Lauren had spoken in the changing room, Charity stepped out to find her cousin sitting quietly with a tear already in her eye. “What?” Charity asked worried as Chas’ intense eye contact began to freak her out. “Nothing, you look so beautiful. Come here” She sniffled, pulling her in for a hug. Charity hugged her back for a moment, but soon stiffened again. “Chas, you get mascara on this dress, I’ll kill you” Charity warned, with a playfulness in her words. “Sorry” Chas chuckled, pulling herself back up right. “So, I look alright then?”, “You look perfect” Chas agreed. “Right, well I reckon we’re done here then” Charity turned to Lauren who gave a thumbs up and reopened the changing room door to help her back out of her dress. Once the dress was bagged up, they were free to leave as it was all already paid for and finally able to come home from the store, which felt like a big weight lifted off Charity’s shoulders. Charity and Chas said their goodbyes to the two girls and left the store. Though once outside, Charity hesitated to leave and a very visible light bulb moment reflected in her eyes. “What?” Chas asked, a little afraid of what was happening. “Nothing, go call us a taxi. I forgot something” Charity innocently lied, and nipped back into the store to buy one last thing that had caught her eye.


	10. Vanessa

Charity had headed to work early, and by early it is meant that she was on time for once, and thanks to the breakfast club she’d taken the boys to school too. So, Vanessa had the bed to herself and had sprawled out across it like a starfish, her head lost between their pillows, blocking the morning light from her eyes as it shone brightly through the window. After carting the kids around Hotton shopping for last minute accessories and picking up bits and bobs for the wedding, she had been more than happy slinking off to bed for an early night, and though she woke up well rested and in a good mood, part of her wanted to stay curled up under the duvet all day but she was due at the surgery at ten o’clock, so couldn’t. The alarm clock blared from across the room, purposely placed as far away from the bed as possible so that she had to get up and switch it off the first-time round. She groaned, and stroppily clambered across the bed and slammed her palm down on the off button, grateful for the silence that followed afterwards. “Alright” She muttered to herself as she spotted her clean clothes laid out on the dresser. Her blue jeans squeezed up over her thighs and fastened tightly with a brown leather belt, that hid beneath a bobbly grey jumper. She had a quick cup of tea for breakfast and then headed off to work across the road with five minutes to spare.  
“Morning” Vanessa chirped as she let herself in to the vets. “Good Morning” Pearl spoke up from behind the computer. “Hey, not long now” She added when she realised who it was, she had just greeted. “I know, can’t come quick enough if you ask me” Vanessa replied with a grin. “Where’s Paddy?”, “He’s just out the back sorting through a hefty pile of folders. He had asked me to do it but I can’t with my bad elbow” She explained. “Oh, you have a bad elbow?” Vanessa sympathised. “No” Pearl whispered, “But don’t tell Paddy that, I’m hoping to get off early for a game of bingo at the community centre” she laughed. Vanessa snorted as she hung up her yellow coat and swapped it for her green veterinary jacket. Out of the five of them that worked at the Vets, they’d all prefer to be knee deep in cow pat than do the office work, so Vanessa couldn’t complain about Pearl’s fib, and she wasn’t going to because fortunately for her Paddy had arrived first and had been lumbered with that side of the job. Normally they’d have Jamie do the written work, he wasn't very fond of it either but they played to his ego perfectly, letting him think he was the most academic person in the room. So as much as he would complain about having to pick up a pen over a pair of gloves, he’d sit boldly at the front desk and would act as if it all came naturally to him, and the others would go along with it. Vanessa popped her head around the door to find Paddy hidden behind a huge stack of paperwork that had barely been started. His shiny bald head peeked up over the top file, his eyebrows furrowed as he shot Vanessa an unhappy glance. “Not my fault you came in early” Vanessa laughed, holding her hands up in surrender and nodded to the clock, noting that both of their shifts didn’t officially start for another two minutes yet. “Yes well, well” Paddy stumbled on his words as he rushed them out, “I had to be the first one here because I’m the one with the keys” He told. “Again, not my fault when you insist on being the one to lock up every night, just so you can feel like a bomb disposal man”, “That’s not why I do it” Paddy laughed nervously. “Oh? So, Rhona and I didn’t catch you humming the Mission Impossible tune last Thursday when you were setting the security alarm?”, “No, and if I did it was only because Me and Marlon had watched it the night before”, “Okay, Paddy” Vanessa nodded her agreeance that was clearly filled with sarcasm. “Tea?” She then asked as she boiled the kettle. “Please” Paddy replied, chewing on the top of his pen. “What’s on the agenda today then?” Vanessa asked, pouring hot water into three cups at the kitchen workspace. “Well, Mr Langsford is bringing in Cat Benatar to be neutered”, “Ha, still a hilarious name” Vanessa interrupted as she thought of the photo, they had seen of the little black cat in pink leg warmers. “I know, and the fact we recruited him from that gay bar on 80s night is equally as funny and ironic” Paddy began, “But that’s all for today, other than that we’re on call for emergency’s” He told, shaking his pen to shift the ink inside. “Yeah, we need to do that again. And you need to get the phone number of at least one bloke next time” Vanessa said playfully. “Why though? It’s not like I’m actually going to call, I have a beautiful woman, lady, at home”, “So do I, but it's still fun to see who can get the most by the end of the night. Even if Charity does always win” Vanessa shrugged. Paddy chuckled, “Speaking of Charity, are you sure you want to marry her?”, “What do you mean am I sure? I’m sure I’m sure” Vanessa questioned. “What, even after the shower incident?”, “How’d you know about that?”, “Chas” Paddy nodded. Vanessa shook her head, “Well, I did jump out of my skin, but I’ll still marry her. Maybe that can be her punishment” She scoffed. “Or maybe she’ll make it up to you?”, “I doubt it, because that would mean bringing it up again and I think she’s too afraid to. Although she did take us all bowling”, “You went bowling?”, “Yeah, and she paid”, “I’m sorry, you went bowling and didn’t invite me?”, “Well it was mostly for the kids, Paddy. Do you even like bowling?”, “I love bowling. I breathe bowling. I was the best on the team when I was in school” Paddy insisted, his annoyance at not having joined them growing with every word. Vanessa pulled a face as she turned to him with two of the cups of tea she’d made. “Well, you can come and be on my team next time then, because getting people’s phone numbers may be the only sport my fiancé is any good at” she joked, passing him one of the mugs, then she nipped back out to the reception to give the other to Pearl.  
A few hours passed by and Pearl had managed to wangle the afternoon off, her secret safe with Vanessa, after she played on the arthritic elbow excuse. Paddy had fallen for it hook line and sinker and even ended up doing some of Pearl’s own work at the computer after she’d left. Cat Benatar’s operation went well and Vanessa had managed to put her under without getting a single scratch from her sharp claws. While the cat dozed in a small kennel, wearing a huge plastic cone around its neck, Vanessa re-joined Paddy out in the front room and sat at the desk, waiting for the phone to ring. “You know, if you’re that bored you could always help me with the paperwork?” Paddy reminded Vanessa for the third time, as she sat in a huff with nothing to do. “I’ll tell you what, if anyone calls in in the next half an hour, I’ll swap you. I’ll do the paperwork, and you get to take the job. But if there isn’t a call, you stop pestering me for the rest of the day. Deal?” Vanessa propositioned, thinking she had the upper hand after another quiet day at the surgery. “Deal” Paddy nodded sharply, holding out his hand and giving her a firm handshake. “If anyone calls in thirty minutes,” Vanessa laughed, “Yes, but if they do, you have to stick to your word” Paddy reminded her. “Okay” Vanessa laughed again. “On another note, I reckon we should get work phones, that way we don’t have to keep coming in on days when we don’t have any appointments” Vanessa suggested, “We could just stay home and only get out of bed when we need to”, “Yes, that would be lovely, but the paperwork would still need doing” Paddy pointed out. “So, take it home with you then” Vanessa smirked. “Very funny you, aren’t you?” Paddy faked a laugh, rocking his head from side to side as he did. Vanessa mimicked him, and for a moment they sat fake laughing at one another and were caught off guard by the phone. As it rang upon the desk, they both stared at it before trying to grab the receiver at the same time. Paddy’s face lit up as he hoped it meant he could go off into the world and leave Vanessa to finish the paperwork. “Emmerdale Veterinary Centre, how may I help you?” Vanessa addressed the caller in her finest phone voice. “Oh, no, okay. Is she breathing?” She asked. Paddy fist pumped the air, but then felt bad as he realised, he was getting excited over the state an animal was in. “Okay, that’s good, in the meantime try to keep her calm and I’ll get out to you as soon as possible” Vanessa told, then hung up the phone. “Who was that?” Paddy asked, still a little bit overjoyed at the possibility that Vanessa had set herself up with the rest of the afternoon sat with a biro in her hand. “I don’t know, some woman said there was a distressed feline up at the cricket pavilion. Sounded like a prank call to me though” Vanessa told. “Don’t care” Paddy blurted out, and he quickly grabbed his vet bag and smartened himself up. Vanessa quickly pressed the redial button that confirmed that they had been called on a withheld number. “I knew it, no number” She began, and looked up to see Paddy heading to the door. “What are you actually going to go?” Vanessa asked. “Yeah, because if it isn’t a prank call then someone's poor pussycat could be in trouble” he explained, ready to dart out of the door. “Fine” Vanessa huffed, now regretting making the bet with Paddy in the first place. “Catch” Paddy called out as he threw Vanessa the pen from his pocket, “Have fun” He added, then quickly ran out of the door, leaving Vanessa alone with a pile of papers ranging from stock checks to costing tally's.  
Not even half an hour later, Vanessa noticed Paddy running back towards the front door. She’d only gotten through one sheet in the time that he’d been gone and was confused as she saw his bright red face appear at the window as he ran by. The door bolted open and in he came, very flustered and embarrassed. “What’s going on? What happened?” Vanessa asked, jumping from her chair, panicking slightly as her friend raced to the back room. “It wasn’t a client” Paddy spat, quickly trying to hide away. “Ah, so it was a prank caller?” Vanessa chuckled, but still couldn’t understand why Paddy was in such a rush to get into the back room. “Not as such,” he admitted as he dropped his bag and leaned his back up against the far wall around the corner. “The feline in distress. It wasn’t a cat” He added in almost a whisper. “What? What are you on about?” Vanessa questioned with a slightly nervous laugh, but before anything else could be said, the front door was thrown open and in came Charity, equally as flustered as Paddy was. “What’s going on?” Vanessa asked again, only this time to Charity, who had charged in all guns blazing. “Where is he?” Charity shouted. “Paddy?”, Vanessa had no idea what was going on and pushed through to the back room, where Paddy was still hiding, and sweating. “I think what Charity’s getting at is” He stammered, “Is that I saw.. I wasn’t meant to see” He continued, not able to look either of them in the eye. As Vanessa turned to face Charity once more, the penny kind of dropped as she noticed that Charity seemed to be wearing a lengthy coat, and nothing else. “Don’t tell me, you flashed him?” Vanessa gasped, not knowing whether to laugh or not. Charity made an attempt to wrap her coat around her body even tighter at the sound of Vanessa’s words, almost confirming exactly what had happened without actually answering her. “Next time you say you’ll be with me right away, make sure it’s actually you, yeah?” Charity breathed, timidly. “Wait until I tell Chas” she added, almost sounding menacingly happy with herself as she toyed with Paddy from across the room. “What? I didn’t mean to see you naked, you’re the one who propositioned me” Paddy called back having found his spine again, now standing up for himself. “Woah, let's all calm down,” Vanessa insisted, trying to handle the situation but failing as they continued to talk over her. “Propositioned you? Nice choice of words that is. Well, we’ll see what Chas has to say about that, and about you not meaning to walk in on another woman naked, shall we?” Charity suggested, “No I’m sorry, don’t tell Chas, she’ll get the wrong end of the stick and I’ll be in the dog house again-”, “Good” Charity blurted out. “Babe, get your coat” she added, turning back to Vanessa. “She can’t just leave. You can’t just leave” Paddy chimed in, turning to both of them as he stepped out into the open. “Oh, can’t she?” Charity questioned, widening her eyes threateningly. Paddy stood in a stunned silence and dropped his head, the second-hand embarrassment washing over him once more. “Alright go, just go, but please don’t tell Chas” He shouted as Charity dragged Vanessa out of the front door, letting it slam behind them.  
“I can’t believe you did that” Vanessa laughed nervously as they arrived back home. Charity flopped onto the sofa and covered her face with her hands. “It was supposed to be you” she muttered, still embarrassed. “Well, I gathered that” Vanessa laughed again. “What made you want to take all your kit off, and at the pavilion of all places?” She asked, joining her on the sofa. “I thought it would be a bit of fun. And it was, until I dropped the coat and turned around to see Paddy standing in the doorway” She told, “He screamed, and his eyes lingered for a bit too long” she added, with a grimace. “Well, I can’t blame him for that” Vanessa admitted, glancing at the top of Charity’s chest as she loosened her grip on the coat. “I am such an idiot,” Charity murmured, turning to face Vanessa, shyly. “You are” Vanessa agreed, but smiled. “But, for what it’s worth, I would have totally swooned and gone weak in the knees,” she added. “I know, that’s why I did it,” Charity replied, attempting to laugh at her own expense. “You could always, try again?” Vanessa suggested, gently biting her bottom lip. “No, it’s ruined now” Charity smirked, trying to hide her growing smile. “Is it?” Vanessa asked, climbing onto her knees, sitting herself upon Charity’s lap. “Is it?” she asked again, pawing at the fabric of the coat, flirtatiously. Charity giggled and sat upright, happily allowing Vanessa to unfasten the coat and cop an eyeful, and a feel.


	11. Charity

Chapter 11.

Charity

Wednesday turned out to be a rare time where both Charity and Vanessa had a day off together, midweek. On such days, they would normally take full advantage of having the house to themselves, but with a million and one things to do before the wedding, which was now only three days away, they had no time for canoodling, or so Vanessa said. “Stuff for my hen party will be here at eleven, yours is being delivered to the pub straight after, our flowers are being dropped off here early afternoon-” Vanessa spoke up from behind her wedding planning journal, and was cut off by an already bored Charity from across the room. “What time is early afternoon?” She interrupted. “I’ve no idea, one or two maybe? Anyway, the hairdresser is coming to do me in an hour or so, so I need to find a way to get rid of you-” Vanessa rambled, causing Charity to interrupt once more. “Please tell me you heard what you just said” she scoffed. “I heard it the second it left my mouth” Vanessa smiled, but tried not to get side tracked as she attempted to set their busy schedule for the day, while pacing back and forth across the room. Charity shook her head and gulped down her last mouthful of cereal. With all the hectic planning, they’d forgotten to do their big food shop and had run out of pretty much everything besides coco pops and cartoon shaped tinned spaghetti, so Vanessa was stressed out to the max worrying about anything else they may have forgotten to do. “I need to call the food people with the final number of RSVPs, go over the seating chart one last time and after that I need to double check that we signed the marriage license properly. Oh and, I need to call the printers to see if we can finally pick up the name cards for the tables today, if so, will you go and get them because I have to-” Once again, Charity interrupted Vanessa, but this time not with words. She took the journal from her hands and dropped it onto the sofa, and wrapped her arms around her little bundle of stress. Vanessa buried her face into Charity’s chest and hugged her back, catching her breath and trying to relax while listening to the sound of Charity’s heart beating through her shirt. She felt her warmth connect them as she took her hand and entwined their fingers together, then began to sway on the spot. “What are you doing?” Vanessa asked, her words accompanied by a quiet giggle as Charity twirled her around. “Dancing with you” Charity replied, “Thought I’d sneak in some practice before the big day” she added, her voice soft and her arms offering the warmth and security Vanessa so loved. Vanessa’s smile grew and her eyes glistened as she looked up at her. “Feel better now?” Charity asked, sensing that the building agitation in Vanessa’s demeanour seemed to vanish before her eyes as she held her in her arms. “Much better, thank you” Vanessa grinned, placing her lips upon Charity’s. “Good, now, go upstairs, have a shower, put on something comfy and leave me to call all these people for you” she insisted, leading Vanessa to the foot of the stairs. “Are you sure?” Vanessa asked, with puppy dog eyes. “Yeah, how hard can it be with the gob I’ve got? I dare anybody to say no to that” Charity joked, pointing at her own face before picking up the journal from the sofa. “Go on” She added, waving Vanessa off up the stairs. Vanessa planted another soft kiss on Charity’s lips and took off, leaving her to chase up all those loose ends.

“Call me Mrs Organised, I reckon I did alright there” Charity called out from the kitchen table when Vanessa came back downstairs. “I’d prefer to call you Mrs Dingle” Vanessa stated, raising an eyebrow playfully. “How’d you do?” She added when she received an approving nod back from Charity. “Well, the name cards weren’t going to be ready today, so I threatened the guy on the receiving end, made out I thought the company were being homophobic, so now not only can we pick them up at the end of the day; we are also getting a ten percent discount as a personal apology for any offence they may have caused” Charity told, proud of herself. Vanessa snorted. “Ha, serves them right, they’ve had weeks to get those cards printed. What else has my Mrs Organised gotten done?”, “Umm, Harriet has already double and triple checked the marriage license so we will be officially and legally wed on Saturday, and the rsvp’s have been finalised, I’m just waiting on a call back from the flower company with a more realistic drop off time, and I’m halfway through checking the seating arrangements” Charity grinned, impressed with herself. “Wow, if I’d have known you’d be this good at chasing things up I’d have lumbered all this on you weeks ago” Vanessa joked, joining her at the table. Charity reached her hand out across the table top and took a firm hold on Vanessa’s. “Anything for you, Mrs Dingle to be” Charity winked. Vanessa felt a warm fluttering course through her body. “Mrs Dingle” Vanessa repeated, her entire face glowing with a pink blush as she imagined her married name in writing. “What are you thinking about?” Charity asked as Vanessa seemed to gaze ahead, not really looking at anything in particular. “I was thinking that, it’s going to take a lot of self-control not to run down that aisle to you on Saturday” she confessed. “Take your time babe, I’ll be waiting for you with open arms” Charity smiled, one side creeping higher up her face than the other as she leaned in for a kiss, but before they could lock lips, the doorbell rang. “That’ll be your dirty, naughty hen stuff” Charity announced. Vanessa tutted, embarrassed. “It’s not dirty or naughty. It’s just a couple of games and bits and bobs” she chirped, leaving the table to answer the door. Charity poked her tongue against her cheek and smiled wickedly, but Vanessa bit hers and opened the door. “Hi, thanks very much” she greeted the delivery man. “Blimey, how much did you get?” Charity scoffed rushing to Vanessa’s aid as she turned around holding five brown boxes, desperately trying to peak over the top of them as they piled up over her head. “It’s not that much, is it?” Vanessa asked, already afraid that she’d overspent. “Depends what it is, and I have an inkling it’s not a bunch of willy whistles and plastic straws”, “Erg, no. It’s just, some things”, “Naughty things” Charity teased. “Stop it” Vanessa laughed, placing two of the boxes that she’d been left with on the table. Charity sighed audibly, “Well then, I think I’ll go chase after that guy and rummage through my own naughty boxes” She added, doing an excited shimmy that surprised her, as well as Vanessa. Then she grabbed her coat off the hook and skipped out of the door, blowing a kiss as she pulled it shut behind her. 

Charity arrived at the pub just after the delivery man had done the drop off, and found Chas hovering at the bar after having signed for the box of goodies. “Oh my God, can we open it now?” Chas blurted out the moment she saw Charity step in through the door. “Why else do you think I’m here?” Charity asked, rushing over to join her, where she already had a sharp knife ready and waiting to slice open the Sellotape. “Oh, yes” Chas gasped as she sliced through the cardboard to reveal a dozen pink feather boas and crudely worded masks. Immediately, she slapped on a mask that read ‘Bite Me’ and wrapped a feather boa around her neck, before trudging through the rest of the stuff. She then pulled out a bride-to-be and bridesmaids' sashes, a couple of L plates on strings and a packet of fun selfie props, ranging from plump red lips, to thick black moustaches. “Whoa, what’s that?” Charity gasped as she clocked a long thin strip of cardboard, propped up against the bar. “Open it” Chas chuckled, excited to see Charity’s reaction to a prop she had ordered behind her back. Charity wearily tore a strip off the pre-cut lines on the packaging, not knowing what to expect, and pulled out a cardboard cut-out of Vanessa. Charity grinned at Vanessa’s smiling face and turned to Chas for an explanation. “It’s a life size Vanessa'' Chas stated. “Give over, she’s not that tall'' Charity joked, popping her elbow on Vanessa’s cardboard shoulder, which seemed to be a little higher up than her real one. Chas laughed and lightly slapped Charity’s arm. “Okay, so I got this because I thought we could play a fun little game with it”, “What kind of game?”, “Well, we’ll blue tack her up against the wall, right? Then chuck some lippy on you, blind fold you, spin you around and get you dizzy, then we’ll get you to try and kiss your lovely wife to be on the lips, and see how close you can get'', “Oh, so it's a glorified game of ‘pin the tail on the donkey’ with my fiancé's face is it?” Charity asked, pretending to be unimpressed. “No, no, it’s ‘plant the kiss on Vanessa’,” Chas explained. Charity shook her head, and looked to cardboard Vanessa as if she were real. “Alright, but I don’t want anyone else trying to have a go, she’s all mine” she insisted, then kissed the cardboard loudly on the face before standing it up straight behind them. “What’s in that one?” Charity then asked, as Chas carefully lifted the lid off another box that she’d hidden under the bar until now. “I got Marlon to make these this morning in case the other thing didn’t go down well, I got the idea from Jimmy’s party. Marlon was up at the crack of dawn, baking them” she told, revealing a dozen cupcakes with yellow icing, with edible photos of Vanessa stuck on top. “Ooh” Charity breathed, reaching out to pick one up. Chas attempted to slap her hand away from the cakes but Charity managed to grab one and had given it a little sniff and raised it to her lips before she could stop her. “Mmm, that’s nice” She mumbled with a mouthful of cake, having bitten Vanessa’s face in half. “They’re for Friday,” Chas announced, flustered. “You should have one” Charity suggested, taking another big bite. Chas hesitated for a moment, “I should, shouldn’t I?” She mouthed, then she too took a giant bite of a little cupcake and joined Charity in oohing and ahhing over the delicious taste of its lemon flavoured icing. “Now, this is the part where normally I’d be mad at the pair of you for swiping those cakes away from my kitchen, but when I hear sounds like that coming from your mouths as you bite into my creations, I can’t be mad really” Marlon’s voice sounded, sarcasm oozing from his lips as he snuck up on them from behind. Charity turned to him over her shoulder, “I’m only enjoying it because Vanessa’s on it” She told, taking her last bite. “Was that an innuendo?” Marlon sighed; afraid he’d walked himself into another one of Charity’s sex jokes. “If you want it to be” Charity shrugged. Marlon cringed as he normally would, and squeezed between his cousins, taking the remaining cakes away from them before they all disappeared. When he turned back around, he jumped, and almost sent the cakes flying. “Flaming ‘eck” He cried, as he came face to face with the cardboard cut-out. “You’re not scared of little Vanessa, are you?” Chas asked, masking her laughter behind her cake. “No, not the real one anyway” Marlon shrugged timidly, “You should be, she’d eat you for breakfast” Charity teased, running her tongue over her teeth. “What, like she does you?” Marlon mocked, realising that this time he had been the one to come up with the rude euphemism. Charity almost choked. “Don’t answer that” He spat almost immediately, and then ducked out of the bar and scuttled off to the kitchen, leaving Charity and Chas in hysterics. “Right, lady. I better get all this put away safe” Chas announced once they’d managed to collect themselves from recoiling in second hand embarrassment. “Yeah, I better push off anyway, things to do” Charity sighed, raising her bag for life.  
Food shopping was one of Charity’s least favourite things to do in the entire world, especially on her own because more often than not she would come home with the wrong brand of something or the wrong flavour, and it wasn’t like the kids were fussy eaters at all either, Vanessa was. So even after she’d piled her trolley full of the exact items Vanessa had written on a scrap of paper, Charity stood at the checkout in a nervous sweat, worried that she’d still gotten something wrong. The girl serving gave off a bad vibe which made Charity feel even more sceptical about even being at the food store, alone, in the first place. A woman and two children waited patiently behind her, and the little boy, who couldn’t have been much older than five, kept leaning against the trolley which repeatedly bumped Charity’s ankles, so as she stood there, already worked up about being in a sweaty sandwich of people, she now had to mask the pain on her face after her third hit to the leg. Finally, though, it was her turn to load her shopping onto the conveyor belt. A continuous beeping rang through her ears as the bored checkout girl scanned each item before throwing them at Charity, who was trying her best to bag it all up without any breakages or leakages having realised she’d left her bag for life, filled with other bags for life, in the car. “That’s a total of £121.96” The girl said, chewing on her gum and not giving any eye contact. Charity’s eyes widened at the slightly higher price than usual. “How much?” She gasped but mostly to herself. “£121.96” The girl repeated, her tone cold and tiresome. As quickly as she could, Charity pulled out her debit card and slotted it into the card machine. “Your pin number, when you’re ready” she was told as the brick of a machine flashed. Charity punched in her four-digit code and pressed the green button. “Would you like any cash back?”, “Yeah, let's call it one hundred and twenty-one pounds and ninety-six pence” Charity muttered, now a little deflated that a huge chunk of her wages was now lining the pockets of the owner of a megastore. The checkout girl stared blankly at Charity as she waited for confirmation to withdraw the money. “No, thank you” Charity spoke sarcastically, as she tried to force her card back into the tight slot in her purse. “Have a lovely day now” She added once she finally managed to take hold of all six bags. Her fingers turned a shade of yellow as the wrinkled, plastic handles hung heavily in her hands. All the way to the car she repeated in her head ‘don’t break, don’t break, don’t break’ as she felt the weight of the contents give way inside the cheap plastic, threatening to slice through the bottom of the bags any moment if she didn’t put them down soon. Thankfully, as she reached the car and forced open the boot, she was able to ram the bags inside and slam it shut again just as it began to shower. Her short-tousled hair, dampened as she unlocked the front door and clambered inside. As the engine switched on, so did the radio, she didn’t recognise what was playing, but it felt an awful lot like the chorus of some old forgotten eighty's song, so immediately she turned the dial, quieting the volume as she stretched one hand out over the back of the passenger seat and turned her head around to see behind her, professionally winding her car out of the tight parking space, before heading to the printers to pick up the name cards, a little over the speed limit.


	12. Vanessa

Chapter 12.

Vanessa.

Vanessa’s hair trial went as well as it possibly could. She loved the finished result and after staring at herself in the mirror for a few minutes with happy tears in her eyes, the hairdresser showered her with compliments and then quickly took it all back out again and packed everything up, leaving her with delicate curls that danced around at her shoulders for the rest of the day. Lunch time had been and gone and before she knew it it was three o’clock and she needed to pick the little ones up from school. When she returned home with two tired little boys, she made them a quick snack and left them playing with toys in their bedroom, then found herself with nothing left to do for the rest of the evening, except to wonder where Charity had gotten to. She’d received a text to say that she’d managed to pick up the name cards from the printers, thankfully without a problem, but there was something else she had to do whilst she was out and that she wouldn’t be long, and yet two hours later there was still no sign of her. “Hi” a voice chirped from the front door, signalling that Sarah had arrived home. “Hey, how was your day? Where’s Noah?” Vanessa called out from the kitchen as she washed up discarded cups and plates, noticing that Sarah had come home alone. “Boring as always, and no idea, I haven’t seen him since lunch” She shrugged. As she stepped into the room, her eyes lit up. “You look nice” She told Vanessa with a big smile. “How did the trial go?” She added, remembering that the hairdresser had been. “Really well, here, look” Vanessa buzzed, unlocking her phone to show her a photo she’d taken earlier. “Aw, you look amazing. Granny is going to be so shocked” Sarah gushed. “Uh, are you saying I don’t always look ‘amazing’?” Vanessa joked, playing the offended card, popping one hand over her heart and inhaling sharply. Sarah let her head droop and smiled shyly, “You know what I mean” She mumbled. Vanessa laughed and slid her phone into her back pocket. Just as she sat down, it started to ring and she sighed and reached for it as it vibrated in her jeans. “Trace?” She asked once she answered and didn’t hear a voice right away. “V, I’m coming round the corner, open the door, my hands are full”. Tracey’s voice sounded far away on the phone, but as they were about to hang up she could hear her voice in real time through the open window. Being the closest to the door, Sarah opened it and leaped aside, letting Tracey in. As she stepped over the threshold, she stumbled over a school bag and almost fell, whilst holding a big cardboard box. “What’s that?” Vanessa asked. “This is comedy gold, this is” Tracey announced, dropping the box down onto the coffee table, careful not to let her phone, which was resting on top of it, crash to the floor. Not knowing what to expect from her sister and her crazy sense of humour, she anticipated what was about to happen as she delved into the already ripped open box. “Ta-dah” Tracey giggled, holding up a white t-shirt with a pink slogan upon it. “What does that say?” Vanessa squinted, not noticing straightaway what was written upon the shirt. “Les-be-hens'' Tracey announced slowly, grinning as if she were really proud of what she had done. “Les-be-hens?” Vanessa questioned, and then the penny dropped. “What the hell have you got that for?” she asked, confused. “Lesbian hen do, Les-be-hens” Tracey over explained. Vanessa rubbed her face with her hands. “We’re not lesbians, Tracey'' Vanessa pointed out, which made Sarah laugh. “Yeah, technically, I know that, but it’s funny” Tracey said, now a little deflated that her sister hadn’t found her novelty gift as humorous as she had. “Yeah, it’s a funny play on words, but I’m not wearing that'' Vanessa told her, now laughing along with Sarah as she stared at the hideous t-shirt. “What? I paid fifty quid for all of these'' Tracey gasped, showing Vanessa the job lot of matching shirts inside the box. “You’ll have to take them back”, “I can’t, they were personalised” Tracey told, flashing the back of the t-shirt that she was holding, which read ‘Dingle to be’, along with the others that had the names of their friends on them. Vanessa laughed harder. “I’m sorry, I appreciate the idea but you’ll have to chuck them on eBay or something” she giggled. Tracey threw the t-shirt into the box and threw herself towards the back of the sofa, slouched and with a face like a sulking toddler. As Vanessa and Sarah laughed, Charity and Noah bounded in through the back door, taking them by surprise. “Don’t look at me. Whatever you do, don’t look in my direction” She demanded, poking her head around the corner. “Where have you been?” Vanessa asked, struggling to keep her eyes away from her fiancé, who sounded extremely stressed. “That’s for me to know, and, you know” Charity wavered, beckoning for Sarah to come and help Noah with the shopping. “We might need to get another milk” She told, remembering that the one she’d bought had gotten warm in the boot of the car but thankfully she’d not bought anything frozen, so the bags weren’t filled with defrosted meats this time, as she had taken a lot longer getting home than she had anticipated. Boredly, Noah made a second trip to the car to retrieve the last of the shopping, while Sarah took hold of the little bag of name cards and put them on the counter top. “Trace, I need you upstairs” Charity said in a loud whisper, although not sure why as she knew Vanessa was going to hear anyway. “Wrong sister” Tracey joked, sitting up and forgetting she was supposed to be throwing a silent tantrum. Charity furrowed her brows and exhaled loudly. “Alright, I’m coming” Tracey spoke through a long sigh, and slowly trudged up the stairs. Sarah ran up behind them, excited to see what was going on, while Noah dropped off the last bag by the back door and threw on his headphones and headed to his room in silence. Vanessa found herself sitting alone in the living room. “I’ll put the shopping away then, shall I?” She spoke out loud to herself as one of the bags fell onto its side allowing tins of beans and soups to roll out and circle around each other on the floor.  
Once everybody had steadily made their way back downstairs and Tracey had left cradling a suspicious bag that Charity had given to her, Johnny and Moses snuggled up on the sofa together to watch cartoons, while Noah and Sarah sat at the table with their homework out, though neither of them were actually doing it. “If you don’t pick up a pen in the next, ten seconds-” Charity warned them, after finding out they both had begun falling behind in maths for not completing the work that had been set for them. “It’s too hard, and the questions don’t make any sense” Sarah sighed. Noah nodded his agreement. “What’s the point, we’re never going to use this stuff in life anyway. I don’t get it” Noah complained, glancing down at his empty page. “Well, you should have paid attention to your teacher then”, “I did, she wouldn’t help me though when I got stuck. She reckons I’m a troublemaker, but she doesn’t even know me” Noah moaned. “And why’s that, Noah? Huh?” Charity began. Vanessa had noticed a tension between them since they had arrived home but she’d tried to stay out of it until they’d calmed down, but as Charity spat at him from across the room, there was no hiding that something had happened for her to be this angry. Charity turned to Vanessa, “Show Ness your face” she told Noah, who up until this moment had been using the hood of his jumper to hide away. “How’d you do that? You’ve not been in a fight, have you?” Vanessa gasped worriedly as she noticed a red mark that was slowly turning into a bruise around his right eye. Not allowing Noah to speak for himself, Charity answered for him. “No babe, he started a fight. The school called me and I had to go in and talk to his teacher and the headmistress, right when I was in the middle of doing something important”, “What? Why?” Vanessa asked, shocked. “I didn’t start it” Noah spoke sheepishly. “What?”, “I didn’t start it,” He said again. “That’s not what you just told me and your headmistress” Charity cut in, not impressed by her son’s lying. “I know, I just said that I did because it was easier, but I didn’t, not really” Noah spoke, his words confusing both Charity and Vanessa as they tried to make out what he was talking about. “What happened?” Vanessa asked calmly, sitting in the empty seat beside him. “A boy in my year, Tom, he was talking about you. Both of you. He was saying that it was wrong that you were together and that you shouldn’t be allowed to get married. He was laughing with his mates. I told him to shut up but he wouldn’t. So, I hit him” Noah explained, with a sadness in his voice. Charity’s tense shoulders dropped as she realised the truth in his words. Vanessa rubbed his arm. “Noah, it’s great that you wanted to stand up for us, but that’s not the way you should have gone about it” She said, looking to Charity for help. Charity sighed loudly, and ran her fingers through her hair. “Look, Noah,” Charity began, sitting in the only seat left at the table, beside Sarah. “There’s always going to be some kid, or some adult, who will have something to say about me and Ness being together. Believe me, I’ve seen countless people stare and tut when we’ve walked past them holding hands, and it angers me too, but if I punched every person who did that, I’d be the one ending up in trouble, just like you have today” she explained. Her heart was heavy but secretly she was proud of her son, and for the first time in a while she saw an inkling of herself inside him. “But isn’t that what Dingle’s do? Look out for each other?” Noah asked. “Yeah, it is. But there is a time and a place for that, and school isn’t one of those places.”, “So, I was supposed to just let him get away with it then?” Noah asked. “Yeah. Ignore it, because so what if Tom or anybody else has something negative to say, what do we care?” Charity said with a shrug, “We’re still getting married on the weekend, with or without their blessing” Vanessa added, as Charity held out her hand for Noah to take it. “Now, forget about that boy and focus on what is important, getting your homework done” Charity told them both firmly. Noah smiled smally, still a little embarrassed to admit how he had gone in all guns blazing, standing up for his Mum’s, but was glad that they knew the truth and wasn’t punishing him for what had happened. Sarah had sat quietly while the rest of them had talked, and offered a sympathetic look to Noah, before breaking the soppy atmosphere in the room. “I still don’t get it though” She said with a smirk, throwing her chewed pencil down. “Let's have a look,” Charity said, peering down at the many numbers and symbols on the page, but her eyes widened in a panic as nothing came to mind after reading the first question. Quickly, she passed the book over to Vanessa with fake confidence. “Oh, it doesn’t look that hard” Vanessa said, her eyes briefly skimming the questions. “Go on, go do whatever and leave this with us” Vanessa told them, dismissing both Sarah and Noah from the table. Not needing to be told twice, they upped and left for their bedrooms, leaving Charity and Vanessa at the table. “What have you gone and done that for?” Charity barked. “I’m sure we can work it out,” Vanessa insisted. Charity threw her head back, their evening of relaxation gone out the window, since Vanessa decided to trade it in for maths club. Vanessa read the notes, explaining the method of learning, and instantly felt her confidence disappear . As she looked up to Charity with an awkward expression, she realised that she’d made a huge mistake and had no idea what to do. “Brilliant” Charity sighed. “What does that even mean?” Vanessa asked in a high-pitched voice, pointing to a detailed and confusing graph at the top of the page. “I’ve no idea, babe” Charity scoffed, getting up from the table. “Where are you going?”, “For a nice long bath, it's been a long day and I could do with a bit of me time” She breathed, stretching out her arms and yawning. “What? No, I need your help with this” Vanessa panicked. “You’re smart, I’m sure you’ll work it out” Charity told her, kissing her on the cheek. “Or you could always google the answers” She whispered in her ear before backing away. “I can’t do that, it’s cheating” Vanessa shook her head. Charity recoiled in false shock and held up her hands in surrender. “You know you’re not actually the student, here?” Charity asked sarcastically. Vanessa stared intently at the book. Charity rolled her eyes so hard it almost hurt as she watched Vanessa fidget with a pencil. “You best get cracking then” she sighed, realizing that she was intent on finishing the kids work for them, one way or another. “But if you hurry, you can meet me in the bathroom” She whimpered in a sultry voice. Vanessa’s eyes darted up from the table and she found Charity backing away slowly and suggestively shrugging off her blazer to reveal her bare shoulder. Vanessa’s jaw dropped open and she looked from Charity, to the book, and back again as her fiance raised an eyebrow and disappeared up the stairs. Now wishing she’d never opened her mouth to begin with, Vanessa huffed and pulled out her phone and quickly began to type the first question into Google, reminding herself of what Charity had just said, that ‘it wasn’t really cheating when she wasn’t even a student in the first place’.


	13. Charity

This particular Thursday was for the kids. Nursery wasn’t in session for Johnny and Moses due to an irregular teacher training day, and with Noah being suspended for the rest of the week, thanks to his fight with Tom, Charity and Vanessa had decided to let Sarah stay home too, with the condition being that each of them tidied their bedrooms and helped out with entertaining the little ones while Charity and Vanessa had to finish the last of the wedding prep. Once they agreed, Vanessa counted backwards from three, as she usually did, to encourage Johnny and Moses to tidy up by letting them think it was a race. A race in which they always won, because unbeknownst to them, they were the only ones participating. The four kids, and Charity, all stood in their positions in the living room as they waited to dart upstairs and start. “Three, Two, One, go” Vanessa shouted loudly. In a fit of giggles, the little ones roared with laughter all the way up the stairs, excited to make it to their bedroom where their countless toys scattered the room, hiding the carpet away beneath racing cars, teddy bears and Legos. Sarah and Noah, with an equal lack of enthusiasm, followed behind to make a start on their own dreaded cleaning, with each of them carrying a black bag for their rubbish to be brought back down in. Which just left Charity, who had lost a game of rock, paper, scissors to Vanessa, meaning Vanessa had won the easy job of straightening up the living room, while Charity herself had to clean the bathroom. With her rubber gloves pulled right up to her elbows, she trudged up the stairs and pouted, picking up the toilet brush and before scrubbing away at the inside of the bowl.   
Once everything was pristine and Johnny and Moses subsided from their now immaculate bedroom, Vanessa named them the winners and awarded them with choosing which game they’d all play as a family as a treat. After whispering in secret and incoherent child talk, they eventually settled on hide and seek. Charity’s eyes lit up. Her favourite game, due to the fact that she would let the kids hide and then not bother trying to find them until they’d been silent for too long, or after she’d finished a glass of wine. Though they normally played at tea time, not at midday, so she weighed up the options that played out in her head and decided that a nice strong cup of coffee would do just as well. “You have to hide first” Moses called out, pointing to Charity and Vanessa. “No, that’s not how this game works” Charity told, hoping Vanessa would agree, but found herself giving in almost immediately as the rest of them agreed with the four-year-old. “Give me strength” Charity muttered under her breath as she tried to think up where she was going to hide in their tiny cottage. “Let's play in the village” Sarah suggested, not liking the idea of anyone snooping around in her bedroom. “Yeah, that’ll be better,” Noah agreed. Almost suspicious at the teenagers' shift in attitude, Charity and Vanessa agreed. “Alright, but team up, a big person and a little person hides together, okay?” Vanessa insisted, thinking of the safety of the kids out on the street. “Okay” everyone chorused at once. Moses held out his arms to Noah so that he could be picked up. Copying his brother, Johnny jumped up at Sarah and was picked up and placed onto her hip. Vanessa did a double take at Charity, who had a smile on her face, a smile that usually came with mischief. “No” Vanessa warned with laughter as Charity launched herself towards her and swooped her up off the floor. Vanessa screamed as she towered above Charity’s head, fearing that she would topple over her shoulders. “Right, everyone got their little person?” Charity asked. Her family all laughed together as Vanessa tried desperately to kick her way back to the ground, tears in her eyes as she giggled happily. As Charity slipped Vanessa carefully back onto her feet, she kissed her playfully on the nose. “Okay, let's go” she shouted, ushering the kids through the door. Out on the pavement, they stood huddled together for a moment, going over the rules of sticking together and not running off. Then once the boys nodded that they understood, Moses and Noah turned their backs and began counting to thirty. Sarah and Johnny headed off in one direction, and Charity and Vanessa in another, holding hands as they half ran, half jogged, away from their kids. “Where should we go?” Vanessa asked, glancing around. “The pub” Charity joked. Vanessa shook her head. “I’m kidding,” Charity insisted, only half telling the truth. “What about there?” Vanessa asked, pointing towards the park, “Or the cricket pavilion?”, “I’m not going there ever again” Charity spat, as memories of nudity and Paddy’s horrified face came flooding back to her. Vanessa attempted to hold back a laugh, which turned into a scoff, then together they turned and their faces became that obvious picture of a lightbulb moment. “The pirate ship” they said in unison, and quickly, they scarpered towards Mulberry Cottage. As they sped around the corner, after hearing Moses shout ‘Ready or not here I come’, they almost ran right into Laurel who was heading out of the house. “What’s going on?” Laurel asked as she saw the two grown women attempt to climb into the children’s playhouse. “Sorry Laurel,” Vanessa called, poking her head back out of the entrance as Charity pulled herself up and inside the ship. “You never saw us, okay?” She threatened playfully, before pulling Vanessa further inside and closing the door behind them. Laurel stood baffled, and shook her head. “Right” She spoke to herself, and then carried on walking as if nothing had happened. Inside, Charity peeked through the small circular window to see if any of the kids were heading their way. “Get away from there, you’re going to blow our cover” Vanessa coaxed, tugging at Charity’s arm. “Fine” Charity whispered. “It’s quite nice in here isn’t it?” Vanessa pointed out, sitting down in one of the bean bags. “Yeah, it’s alright” Charity shrugged, though secretly she did think the pirate ship was a little bit cooler than she’d have imagined it to be. Bored already, Charity flicked a switch on the wall and jumped as a light flickered on. “Switch that off” Vanessa muttered, “I didn’t know that was going to happen” Charity told, having flicked the switch back off just as quickly as it had come on. “You didn’t know the light switch was going to turn on the light?” Vanessa questioned, as if she were stupid. “I didn’t know it was a light,” Charity insisted. Vanessa shook her head. “You can be so dumb sometimes” she scoffed. “And you can be really bossy” Charity spat back. Vanessa raised an eyebrow and smiled cheekily. “You don’t normally complain about that” she muttered, causing Charity to duck her head coyly. As a wave of embarrassment crashed over her, it was actually quite fitting she thought, as she remembered they were hiding inside a ship. When she lifted her gaze, her eyes fell upon a captain's hat, hanging on a hook on the wall. Reaching out for it, Charity pulled it down and popped it on Vanessa’s head. “Ah” Vanessa piped up, realising what it was that had been forced over her ponytail. “That’s more like it” She nodded, refitting the cap so that it sat more comfortably around her face. “Now get down will you, if the kids go by that window, they’ll definitely see you, and we’ll lose, and we’ll be reminded of just how big a pair of losers we are, all night”, “Aye Aye Captain” Charity winked, obeying her tiny Captain’s commands.   
“Right, what the hell are they up to?” Charity sighed boredly after half an hour had passed by and the clock ticked closer towards the next hour. “I don’t know. Reckon we’ve been played?” Vanessa asked, still laying in the bean bag wearing the captain's hat. “What if they’ve had an accident?”, “They won’t have”, “They might have”, “No, they’ll be fine, Charity. They’re probably just letting us stew. Stop worrying” Vanessa cooed. “I’m going to call them” Charity insisted, pulling her phone out of her pocket. “You’re playing right into their hands” Vanessa told, but Charity was already pressing speed dial before she could finish her sentence. As the phone rang, she paced the ship, waiting for an answer. “Where are you?” She shouted as Sarah picked up. “Back home. We couldn’t find you. We tried calling but you must have had no signal” She explained. Charity ran her hand across her forehead, rubbing it in relief as she realised, they were all safe. “Idiots. Stick the kettle on we’ll be home in a minute” she barked, and hung up the phone abruptly. “Can you believe that?” Charity sighed. “Why’d you tell them we were coming back now. We’ve got this place all to ourselves” Vanessa pointed out. Charity pulled a face. “A children’s play area?” Charity questioned, thinking less of Vanessa in that moment as she watched a hopeful expression creep up her face, “Yeah, you’re right. Let's go” Vanessa shook her head, removing the dirty thoughts that attempted to plant their roots in her mind.   
When they arrived back at Jacob’s Fold, the four kids were standing out the front waiting in a line, grinning from ear to ear, along with Ryan. “What’s going on?” Charity asked suspiciously. “Oh God, you haven’t broken anything have you? She added, worried about the tall china lamp that had been teetering on the edge of the coffee table before they’d left the house earlier. “No,” Noah swore blind. “Well, you’ve done something worth worrying over, I can feel it in my bones. Anyway, what are you doing here?” She asked, nodding to her son, though she couldn’t hide how happy she was to see him now that he was back from visiting Irene. “These lot invited me over for dinner,” Ryan said innocently, laughing a little as Vanessa eyeballed each of them to see who was going to break rank first over what was really going on. “Don’t worry, they’ve not done anything bad, quite the opposite actually” Ryan said, with a mischievous smile. As he did, somebody began opening the front door. “Surprise” a voice chirped as another unexpected face appeared upon the threshold. “Deb’s, Jack” Charity mouthed, rushing forward to hug her daughter and grandson, who she’d not seen in person for months. “What are you doing here?” She asked, shocked to see her oldest child and youngest grandchild back in the village. “Well, I managed to sort out my priorities and thought I’d come down a day earlier. Didn’t want to miss this Hen do, if that’s ok with you?” She explained as she hugged her mum. “Of course, it's ok with me” Charity breathed, taking in Debbie’s scent. “Welcome back” Vanessa breathed as she took her turn hugging Debbie. “Right, shall we go in?” Charity asked, with the biggest grin on her face as she felt an immense sense of happiness, having all of her children under one roof. “Ooh, smell that” Vanessa gasped as each of them almost got knocked over by the delicious scent of lasagne. “I tried to copy your recipe. I hope you don’t mind” Sarah admitted, looking hopefully to Vanessa. Vanessa’s face broke out in a smile. “What’s mine is yours” She told her as Charity popped her arm around her waist. Together, they stood and watched as their kids crowded together in the tiny room with a smile and a sense of achievement for the family that their love had brought together.   
After dinner, each of them full and content from a delicious meal and flowing conversation, the Dingle’s and Dingle’s to be kicked back and enjoyed one another's company. They talked about Debbie’s life in Scotland, and begged her to spill the beans on the new mysterious man she may have or not have in her life, chatted about the wedding, and gossiped about village life and the goings on over the last few days. “She didn’t?” Debbie gasped, “She did, and Chas was not best pleased. She threw everyone out afterwards” Vanessa laughed, filling Debbie and Ryan in on what had gone down at Jimmy’s birthday party. “Well, I can’t say I blame her, really. You’re a nightmare when you’re drunk. Hope I’m not lumbered with being your chaperone tomorrow” Debbie replied, turning her head to her mother, who was shaking her head in false offence as they laughed at her expense. “I don’t need a babysitter, I’ll be on my best behaviour so that I walk down that aisle with a clear head, actually” Charity insisted, not that anyone believed her. “I’m glad I won’t have to be there” Ryan laughed, “Me too” Noah chimed in, lifting his head from the bright glare of his mobile. “So, what are you boys going to get up to without us?” Vanessa asked, kissing Johnny on the head as he wandered over for a hug. “Pizza, junk food and loads of tears from him when I kick his butt on his own PlayStation” Noah teased, nudging Ryan’s arm. “That’s what you think,” Ryan exclaimed, pushing his brother back playfully. “As long as you don’t stay up too late, we don’t want bags under your eyes as well as a bruise” Charity warned. Noah ducked and hid his face as everyone glanced towards it. Luckily, his bruise had turned into more of a yellow shade than black, and was barely noticeable from far away, so he held out hope that it wouldn’t pick up on the photos. Charity suddenly felt a little teary eyed as her thoughts turned to somebody important to her who wouldn’t be able to celebrate with them. “It’s a shame Lisa won’t be there tomorrow, and Saturday” Charity mentioned. Everyone nodded and bowed their heads at the thought of Lisa Dingle, the backbone of the family. “She’d have loved a good knees up” Debbie smiled weakly, thinking back on weddings and parties of the past. “Yeah, she would” Charity agreed, nodding. “She’d have been the first to get you to drink from the welly, too” Debbie pointed out to Vanessa. Vanessa laughed, her shoulders raising up with her smile as she felt a warm welcoming feeling flutter in her stomach, thinking about the Dingle tradition. As she grinned, she picked up her lukewarm cup of tea from the table top and held it out in front of her. “To Lisa,” She said. “To Lisa” The others joined in, each raising their own cups, clinking them together, celebrating her memory.


	14. Vanessa

Chapter 14.

Vanessa

It was finally here. Friday night, this one was for the girls, and Vanessa swore she hadn’t been so excited in her life. The kids had all gone over to the house known to be the base camp of The Dingle’s, Wishing Well Cottage, where they were in for a night of fun and games and movies with Sam and Ryan while the women of the family partied with Charity at The Woolly. As soon as the house was empty, Charity and Vanessa had attempted to go back to bed to enjoy their last evening alone before their big day, but just as they started getting hot under the collar, a chorus of voices burst into song and into the bedroom without a moment's notice. “You’re getting married in the morning, ding dong the bells are-” Tracey and Rhona chirped together as they invited themselves into the room with a bottle of champagne. As the singing turned into screaming, Vanessa covered her naked body with a cushion until Charity’s head popped out from beneath the blanket, where she was then able to use it to hide them both. “I’m so sorry, I thought Charity’d be gone and you would be ready by now” Rhona explained in a panic, filled with second hand embarrassment.. “You could’ve put a sock on the door” Tracey suggested, desperately trying not to address the lingering pictures in her mind of her sister and her almost-wife in bed. “In my own home? I don’t think so” Vanessa muttered as she sat up and pulled herself together. “I’ll be scarred for the rest of my life now,” Tracey added in a whisper, as she and Rhona stood with their backs turned. “Just get out then, both of you” Charity shouted, secretly finding the funny side to what had happened. “Yeah, okay, come on Trace. We’ll wait downstairs Ness” Rhona mumbled, pulling Tracey out of the room and the door shut with them. Charity sighed and shook her head as Vanessa nervously chuckled into the nape of her neck. “I’m definitely having a lock put on that door” Charity insisted, pointing vigorously across the room. Vanessa smiled and breathed in Charity’s scent as she realised that they weren’t going to get that last time in bed after all. Vanessa’s friends were all gathering there at Jacob’s Fold for a few hours for pre drinks before heading off to town where Rhona, as chief bridesmaid, had booked them a booth for the night in the VIP section of a new club in Hotton. Charity planted four or five wet kisses upon Vanessa’s lips before climbing over her lap and onto her feet. As she passed over her, Vanessa slapped Charity’s bare flesh, leaving behind a faint red hand print. “Oi” Charity gasped, “Stop trying to make it harder for me to leave” She smirked, and grabbed clean underwear from the chest of drawers under the window. Vanessa smiled and watched for a moment before she too got up and began to dress in clothes that weren’t really going to cover her up much more than the cushion had moments ago. Less than five minutes had passed by since Rhona and Tracey had witnessed more than they had bargained for, and yet it seemed a lot longer as they held one another. “I’ll miss you tonight” Vanessa told Charity, as her thoughts turned to spending the night alone in their bed. “I’ll miss you too” Charity breathed, pressing her forehead against Vanessa’s. Charity was warm and radiant and glowing in the lamplight, but Vanessa knew it didn’t have a patch on how beautiful she was going to look in the morning. A new fluttering of butterflies tickled away beneath her skin and she was sure she was going to burst into tears had Charity not broken the silence before she had had the chance. “You look hot. You better not pull tonight” Charity teased, eyeing Vanessa up and down in her short leather skirt. “I already pulled the sexiest woman in the village so,” Vanessa joked back. Charity grinned in a way that she didn’t always do, that smile was reserved for special moments, like this. “Are you two coming down here or what?” Tracey’s voice trailed up the stairs over loud nineties music that began to blare from the living room. “Come on” Charity rolled her eyes, taking Vanessa by the hand.  
Downstairs, Rhona had thrown balloons around the room, dimmed the lights, hung up ‘L’ signs on the front door and windows, and had poured the four of them a drink, though she had already almost finished hers. As the two of them reached the bottom of the stairs, carefully stepping over balloons in their heels, Rhona and Tracey audibly awed as they appeared, still holding hands. “God, I am so jealous of the two of you” Rhona gushed, blushing as she felt their love emitting from behind shy smiles. “Here you go,” Tracey announced, handing them their untouched drinks from the coffee table before raising her own. “To a love nobody saw coming, that we all hope lasts forever” She smiled, making a toast. Like a flood, Vanessa’s eyes filled with the tears she’d managed to keep at bay until this point, as they each sipped from their glasses. “Right, I better go” Charity admitted, wishing she could stay longer, but she knew Chas and the rest of the Dingle clan were waiting for her at The Woolpack. Vanessa followed her to the door where they kissed one last time. As she unwrapped her arms from around her bride to Be's neck, she noticed how Charity and Tracey seemed to be having a secret conversation in widened eyes and nods over her head. “What’s going on?” She asked, “You’ll find out soon enough. See you at that altar tomorrow” Charity whispered, as the voices of Vanessa’s other guests echoed from across the road. Charity’s eyes glimmered with happiness as she studied Vanessa’s face until the very moment, she managed to pull herself away and left for the pub, looking back one last time before she turned the corner and was out of sight.  
After an hour or so of sensibly drinking and chatting amongst friends, Vanessa and her hens really got the party started by popping open multiple bottles of prosecco, dancing around in feather boas and singing along to throwback hits from their childhoods. Plenty of divas such as Madonna, Cyndi Lauper and Cher blasted from the television speakers as they shouted over the music, laughing and joking until Tracey turned down the volume and stole everybody’s attention. “Hey, what you doing? This is my jam” Leyla called out, referring to Shakira’s - Hips Don’t Lie, that now played quietly in the background. “Sorry, but I actually have strict instructions from Charity-” Tracey began, but was cut off by Vanessa. “What is it?” She asked excitedly, and also nervously as she had no idea what to expect. For weeks, her fiancé and sister had been sneaking around planning something that neither of them would give her any hints about. Tracey grinned as she amped up the anticipation of the guests, waiting to tell them what it was that she had in her hands. “Here. Read this” Tracey told Vanessa, handing her a small white envelope. “What, out loud?” She clarified before tearing it open, knowing Charity had a tendency for writing her notes that weren't all that innocent. “Yes, out loud” Tracey confirmed, excited to see Vanessa’s face when she realised what was going on. “Babe” Vanessa read out loud, pausing at Charity’s handwriting on the folded paper. “I know how much you wish your Dad could have been here to celebrate with us” She paused again, holding the note to her chest and looking up towards the heavens with her bottom lip threatening to tremble. “Aww” Rhona sniffled from the sofa, taking hold of both Vanessa and Tracey’s hands as they waited for her to continue reading. “I know how much you wish your Dad could have been here to celebrate with us” She read again, “And how he was the best at surprising you on special occasions, so without treading on any toes, I wanted to create a treasure hunt for you, just like he had when you were a little girl, and with Tracey’s help, for the most part, this is what I’ve come up with. So, get ready because your first clue is this: Starting easy, I hope you remember, Clue number two is where I first said, I love you,” Vanessa spun around on the spot, and looked directly at Tracey. “Your kitchen” she cried, staring at her sister in excitement. “Let's go” Tracey giggled. With that, Vanessa, Tracey, Rhona, Moira, Layla and Priya all ran out through the door, almost forgetting to lock up behind them as they piled out into the street. When they reached Tug Ghyll, Tracey forced her key into the door and pushed it open. Vanessa found herself in the kitchen within seconds and began rummaging around the countertops with her friends. After tugging at a few cupboard doors, “Ahh” she proclaimed, as she noticed an envelope with a number two drawn upon it, stuck to the fridge with a magnet. “Clue number two, Roses are red, Babe you’re so cute, if you want the third clue, take a look in your boot” Vanessa read out loud for the others to hear. “I’m not wearing boots” she announced as she looked down at her feet in disappointment. “I think she means car boot,” Moira pointed out. “Oh” Vanessa gasped, and once again everybody ran off across the village, giggling like children. “I chose the wrong night to wear heels” Rhona mentioned in passing to Layla. “Man up, Ghoskirk” Layla demanded, taking hold of her by the arm, and practically dragged her along the street like Bambi on ice. Vanessa’s car was parked outside of Jacob’s Fold and all five women pressed their faces up against the windows, trying to sneak a peek at whatever was inside as Tracey nipped into the house to fetch the keys from the bowl near the door. “Catch” Tracey called from the door as she threw the keys over to Vanessa, who missed and almost toppled over as she knelt down to pick them up off the ground. As the boot popped open, the third clue dangled from a slither of ribbon inside. “Clue number three” She read, her fingers trembling as she opened its envelope and pulled out the next rhyme. “When you’re Mrs Dingle, you won’t just be my wife, so here is a thought I think you’ll find nice. ‘Johnny came first, but you’ll have step kids soon too, and if my kids are your kids, you’ll be a Granny then too’ Pray for us, Amen, clue number four is waiting with them” Vanessa’s jaw dropped as she remembered that she was in fact about to inherent five Dingle’s and two Sugdan’s in the morning, all while her friends laughed at her expense. “Where are the kids?” Priya asked, the most sober one amongst them and yet still the most scatter-brained. “Up at Zack's,” Vanessa announced. “That’s miles away” Layla complained, but as she spoke, bright headlights glistened across the road and the unmistakable sight of a beaten down old van appeared. “Can I give you a lift anywhere, ladies?” Sam shouted from the wound down window. Vanessa turned to Tracey who waved her phone to show that she had given Sam the go ahead to pick them up, and laughed nervously. “Bride up front with me, but plenty of room in the back for rest of you” Sam told, pushing the passenger side door open with his outstretched arm. Vanessa giggled with every step towards the van and climbed in. “We gotta get in the back of that smelly old thing?” Layla asked, not impressed, fearing that her outfit would be ruined for a second week in a row. “Oh, come on. We all want to know what the treasure is, and if it means sitting in the back of that thing, so be it” Rhona squealed, now being the one to drag Layla out of her grump and into the van.  
When they pulled up outside Wishing Well Cottage, Sarah and Noah were waiting in the window, excited to play their part in Charity’s game. They quickly ran out in their pyjamas where Noah presented Vanessa with the final envelope. Inside the note read, ‘The last clue, my babe, for you. Use this key and you will find the treasure bought with you mind’. “Gran said you had to do this part on your own” Sarah explained as Vanessa emptied the envelope over her outstretched palm and dropped a little brass key into it. “It’s for the barn,” Noah told, nodding towards the big wooden doors that had been locked up and tied with a ribbon. Vanessa smiled and felt a fiery reaction in the pit of her stomach as she wondered what on Earth could be waiting for her inside the barn. With slight hesitation, she walked over to the doors and pulled the ribbon off the handle. The little key jammed into the lock and clicked as she turned it. As the door opened a flood light turned on as it sensed her step inside, where she found a large box wrapped in white paper, right in the centre of the barn. The voices of her friends and the kids sounded muffled as she closed the door behind her. “What is it?” One of them called out impatiently. But Vanessa didn’t answer, instead she dropped down to the floor and gently peeled off the paper, careful not to rip it as she wanted to savour the moment. Carefully and slowly lifting up the flaps of cardboard, she peered over the top of the box and found an array of what seemed at first to be very random objects wrapped in tissue paper. The first thing to take her attention was a large bottle of wine that looked a lot more expensive than the stuff she’d already been drinking that night. Beside it, was a beautiful mask, golden in colour and covered in matching feathers and diamante jewels. “Charity Dingle, what is all of this?” She mouthed to herself, not realising a pattern in the gifts. Next, she pulled out a shopping bag from a designer store. The bag had been packaged with tissue paper and was held together by a sticker that looked like a wax seal. Cocking her head to the side as she reached into the bag, she felt material that confirmed it was a piece of clothing. Not sure of what it was right away, she pulled out something white and lacey, with yet another note. Though this one was not at all like the others. ‘You’ll look amazing in this, but it’ll look better on our bedroom floor’ she read, and then it clicked and her jaw dropped open as she revealed to herself a slinky lingerie set, consisting of a beautiful lace corset with a matching thong, stockings and garter. Vanessa’s heart rate accelerated and her breath shook as she took a second look at the underwear in her hands. “Oh my God” She whimpered, and then she repeated it again and again until enough shock had passed by to allow her to look back into the big box, which showed that she had one last gift to open. A mixture of red and yellow stared up at her from the bottom of the box as she lifted out what looked to be a flag, though she wasn’t sure of the country it represented. Something had been folded up inside it and as she unravelled it, the flag quickly grew in size as it opened in her lap and a small folder fell onto her thighs and bounced onto the floor. Her hands shook with anticipation as she measured up options of what could be inside. As she opened it, she counted to three and opened her eyes to find a few pieces of paper stapled together inside a Polly pocket sleeve with two passports, and along with it, a postcard. “No way” She muttered as she caught sight of the postcard's beautiful swirling font and photo of a gondola that was disappearing beneath a tunnel on a lagoon. Upon it she read the word ‘Venice’, twice, to make sure she had read it correctly and not imagined the word that really was right there before her eyes. ‘You, Me, No Kids. Honeymoon?’ Vanessa mouthed, hearing Charity’s voice in her mind as she read her writing on the back of the postcard. “Yes” She automatically answered out loud, hugging the small card to her chest. Then it finally made sense, looking back at the other gifts, she realised each one had a link to the Italian city and had meant to be hints. She wished she had been sober enough to guess before the big reveal, but she didn’t care, Charity was taking her on a honeymoon to one of the most romantic cities on Earth after thinking they didn't have the money to fund a romantic getaway. She took a moment to compose herself, and safely packed everything back into the box with a little squeal of excitement, before resurfacing outside of the barn. “Well? What was it?” Moira asked, being the first to notice Vanessa step back out into the garden. Vanessa glanced over to see if the kids were still in earshot, which they were, but shrugged and told them anyway. “Expensive Italian wine, Sexy underwear and a honeymoon in Venice” She told, gradually getting louder as her excitement grew. All five women, and Sam, screamed and hollered with excitement and a touch of jealousy at the revelation, while the kids grimaced ever so slightly. As Vanessa rushed over to her friends and received a group hug from each of them, all envious that she was going to be living a life of luxury in Italy in a few days, an oncoming vehicle sounded as it drove up the gravelled path. “‘Ere are, taxis coming” Sam shouted over raised voices. “Time to get bladdered,” Layla cooed, high fiving the closest person to her as the mini bus pulled up. While the others belted up inside the taxi, Vanessa pulled Tracey to the side. “I can’t believe you managed to keep this from me all this time” Vanessa breathed, impressed that Tracey had managed to keep a secret for once, “I didn’t, I only helped Charity with the clues, the rest of it was all her idea, I had no idea she’d put in so much effort and gone and booked you a flipping holiday” she explained, feeling proud of her soon to be sister-in-law. “You’re dead lucky V, I’m so happy for you” She added. “I know, I can’t wait to walk down that aisle tomorrow” Vanessa confessed, sharing a genuinely happy moment with her sister. Tracey nodded and hugged her tight before shaking away all traces of emotion. “Well, until then. It’s VIP cocktails and dancing until the early hours” Tracey announced, shimmying in her glittery top. As Vanessa attempted to follow Tracey onto the mini bus, a voice called her name from behind. “Noah? What’s up?” She asked as the teenager jogged over to her. “Erm, I just wanted to tell you something” He began, but he hesitated before he could get the rest of his words out. Vanessa tilted her head, waiting to hear what he had to say. “When you first got with my mum, I told you I didn’t like you. I just wanted to say sorry, for that”, “That’s alright, I know you’re sorry” Vanessa told, confused as to why he thought she didn’t already know that after three years. “No, I know, but I just thought you and her were going to be over quickly, like all the others, but you weren’t, and I’m glad. I’m glad you’re getting married tomorrow. You’re the best person she’s ever been with. I’ve never seen her so happy, and I know that she really is, in her heart, and I am too. I’d be proud to call you my stepmum” Noah confessed, fumbling with his sleeve. Vanessa felt Noah’s words tug at her heartstrings and she became overwhelmed with love for this boy who had laid his feelings bare before her. “Come here” She whimpered from behind a waterfall of tears as she pulled him close to her for a hug. “Thank you, Noah” She said, lip wobbling with emotion as he hugged her back. “We’re both so lucky to have you” She told him, not wanting to let him go as she replayed his words in her head, but she loosened her grip before she could embarrass him as the others looked on. “Have a nice night” He smiled with a little nod towards the mini bus that was waiting for her to climb onboard so that the driver could get going. Vanessa beamed from ear to ear and quickly kissed him on the cheek. “What was that all about?” Rhona whispered in her ear as Vanessa took the seat beside her. “Nothing, just saying goodnight to my son” Vanessa mouthed. “Let's go” She added, livening up again. With that, the driver switched the engine back on and the radio flooded with old school tunes which was met by a round of cheering from the other women. As they pulled off, Vanessa looked out of the window as Noah disappeared back inside the cottage, with a proud smile and a bubble that nobody could burst, she was ready to celebrate her last night as Miss Woodfield, before marrying the woman of her dreams.


	15. Charity

Chapter 15.

Charity

The Dingle hen party at The Woolpack had been in session for a good few hours and Charity was admittedly drunk, having sunk multiple shots and chasers at the bar. All the Dingle women were there to celebrate with her and had all had a great night so far. Marlon’s ‘Vanessa faced’ cupcakes had gone down a treat, and had helped in getting the party started after he’d revealed before leaving that the secret ingredient in the lemon icing was tequila. Each of them had been sat, dressed up in naughty quoted masks and feather boas, talking amongst themselves for a while, though Charity had spent a lot of the night wondering what Vanessa was doing, and whether her surprise had gone down well, but Chas always seemed to notice when her mind took her away from the there and now and was able to drag her back into the present each time she had that far off look in her eyes. “Knock this back” She told her, forcing yet another shot glass into her hand. Charity scoffed and threw back her head, emptying the glass in one go before slamming it onto the table. She had no idea what she was drinking, having found herself so drunk that everything had begun to taste the same, and as far as she knew she could have been sinking back drops of water, but it didn’t matter, maybe she’d sober up a little, or maybe she was getting more and more squiggly, either way she was having fun. The music had played loudly for the majority of the evening, a playlist of their favourite girl power hits and the odd cheesy power ballad boomed from the loud speakers, but after a while it had been stripped back to half its usual volume so that the ladies could hear themselves over the thumping of the bass beats that echoed around the room. They had chatted for a while about their partners, and even shared a few things that should have been kept under wraps as they hinted towards their sex lives and things that their partners did that both excited and infuriated them, in and out of the bedroom, but the conversation always seemed to find its way back to the crass and the crude no matter what topic they touched on. Charity tried her best not to give away too much of her and Vanessa’s pillow talk but feared she had slipped up on the inevitable, ‘Who wears the trousers’ question, so to speak, as the women wondered what it was like to bed another woman. Debbie held her hands over her ears as they gossiped about turn on's and turn offs, and hoped that nobody would bring up that confusing time in her life where she had had a passionate fling with her friend Jasmine, thought luckily for her, nobody seemed to remember, or if they did, they’d chosen not to bring it up. “I’d love to sleep with a woman,” Mandy exclaimed, needing little to no time to think about the question. “I’m surprised you haven’t already,” Chas admitted. Mandy guffawed and smacked the table top, loving the attention. “I never could” Belle spoke up amongst the laughter, but most of the others cringed as they heard her voice. “Belle, you’re a baby please don’t” Charity said, shaking her head at the thought of the youngest Dingle at the table sharing her thoughts on sex. “I never have, and I don’t think I ever would either, But I went to a strip club once with a few friends when I wasn’t much more than a teenager, and we each had a lap dance” Lydia told, shocking each of them with her story. “Blimey, Lydia” Charity gasped, almost dribbling her drink down her chin at the thought of Lydia venturing outside of her prudish box. Laughter filled the room once again hearing Lydia’s revelation, to which they then found themselves talking about Chas’ days as a stripper. “Ay, do you fancy another lap dance, Lydia?” Chas asked, rising out of her seat and juggling her breasts towards her face. Lydia laughed, though she turned red with embarrassment as the other women began to sing the theme song from The Full Monty. “I’ll have one” Mandy cried, and in a fit of excitement she began searching for her purse and protruded a few ten-pound notes which she made rain over Chas’ torso. “Here’s a twenty, give us a kiss” She shouted, waving a purple note in the air. The women cried with laughter as they joked amongst themselves. “Ooh, talking of kissing” Chas exclaimed, repositioning herself on Mandy's lap and turning to Charity. “I’ve been looking forward to this all day. Everyone, say hi to Vanessa” Chas called out over ruckus laughter and dirty jokes. “Eh, what’s she doing here? It’s bad luck” Mandy boomed as she squinted across the room. “Aw, hiya!” Lydia chirped, waving to what she thought was a real person, but was actually a two-dimensional prop blue tacked against the wall. “What? No, it’s not really Vanessa. It’s cardboard. And all part of this fun game I came up with” Chas explained, “Pin the tail on the donkey” Charity murmured, remembering that Chas had already told her the rules of the game a few days ago. “Yes. No. Plant the kiss on Vanessa” Chas rolled her eyes at Charity’s obvious attempt to belittle the brilliant game she thought she’d invented. “Someone, tie her up” Chas informed, throwing a blindfold into the circle of tipsy women, who all jumped at the blindfold like hungry vultures. "Oh aye, steady on" Mandy boomed with laughter, as Debbie was victorious, and held the blindfold above her head as she clambered over to her mother. “Close your eyes” Chas instructed as Debbie attempted to fold the scrap of material neatly over itself before pulling it tight at the back of her mother's head. “I don’t think it matters if my eyes are closed or not, I can’t see either way” Charity pointed out, raising her arms for a reaction. “Shut up” Chas told her, then proceeded to stick up two fingers. “Can you see that?” she asked to make sure. “No” Charity shrugged. “Are you sure?” Chas asked again, now doubling up her ‘V’ signs and flashing them one by one in Charity’s face. “No, I can’t see” Charity insisted, with a nervous smile as she felt a slight breeze pass by her face from Chas’ dancing fingers. “If only she couldn’t speak too” Mandy chuckled, shouting loudly for all to hear. “Shame I can still hear as well, isn’t it Mand” Charity spat back, rolling her eyes under the tight fabric. Chas shook her head and pulled Charity to her feet and applied a thick layer of red lipstick over her lips. “I’m going to start spinning you around in three, two, one” She cheered. As Charity was passed from pillar to post, she became dizzy quite quickly and almost lost her balance as Chas took her supporting hands from her shoulders. “Go” Everyone shouted. With that, Charity took off towards the wall, holding out her hands to feel her way out of the bar area. To fit the mood, Chas quickly changed the song to Kiss Me by She’s All That, to which the guests sang along to the chorus loudly as Charity puckered her lips, having found what she thought was Vanessa’s mouth. “Kiss, kiss, kiss” The women chanted. Charity positioned herself and quickly planted a forceful kiss onto the cardboard cut-out, leaving behind as much lipstick as she could for reference. As soon as she pulled her head back, she whipped off the mask to find she’d left behind a big slobbery blob of glossy red lipstick right in the centre of Vanessa’s chin. “Not bad” Chas whooped. “Not bad? I told you she’s not really this tall. If it was proportionally correct that smacker would be right on her lips. I know that body inside out” Charity insisted, knowing she could find Vanessa’s real mouth standing on her head if need be. “Too much information” Debbie shuddered, blocking unwanted thoughts from her mind. The other women laughed at both Debbie’s expense and Charity’s boasting, but as they chuckled and cringed, Charity began to feel queasy. She quickly turned to face Chas, who knew immediately what was coming. “Outside, quick” she shouted as Charity’s face drained of colour and turned white. Together they ran out the back door and as soon as the fresh air hit her, Charity almost fell to the floor. “Good girl, get it out” Chas whispered, patting Charity’s back, feeling partly to blame for what had happened. Charity wretched but found that the sickness had subsided, but she felt nauseous enough to warrant a few minutes rest. “I’ll go grab you some water” Chas told, “be right back” She added, but as she disappeared back into the pub, Charity could feel an instant difference in herself as the nausea she'd felt began to quickly sober her up, and once again her thoughts turned to Vanessa, who she just really wanted to be with at that moment. Carefully, she snuck away from the pub and made her way down the street and began searching through her phone for Vanessa’s number. As she stumbled around the corner, listening out for an answer on the other end, a familiar tune began to play out loud, and for a moment she thought she’d accidentally called herself, though realising that was an impossibility she found herself coming face to face with Vanessa. She squinted a little at first, fearing that the cardboard cut-out had come to life and had begun following her, but this version of Vanessa was dressed differently, in fact it was hardly dressed at all and was wearing exactly the same outfit that she remembered her real Vanessa wearing earlier on. “Babe?” Charity murmured, still not one hundred percent sure if she could see her fiancé for real or not, but this Vanessa smiled and Charity realised she really was there in the flesh after all. “I know I shouldn’t be here but I just really wanted to see you” Vanessa apologised, though she wasn’t sorry to see her. “I was just trying to do the same, I was calling you” Charity explained, her words not exactly stringing together the same way they would have if she had been sober. Hugging as if they’d been apart for weeks rather than hours, Charity and Vanessa were happy to be in one another's arms once again. “Did you like the surprise?” Charity asked, hoping Tracey had remembered to start the treasure hunt before they’d left for Hotton. “Charity, oh my God” Vanessa gasped, “Yes. I can’t believe you did that for me, for us” She cried, excited by the thoughts of travelling to Venice in a few days. “I’d do anything for you” Charity insisted, squeezing her tighter. As they stood in the middle of the road, holding onto one another, Chas began calling for Charity who had disappeared without a word. “Quick” Charity giggled, dragging Vanessa away from the pub. “Charity?” Chas called out again as they ran home in a hurry not to be seen.  
When the coast was clear they returned to a normal pace and walked the rest of the way home hand in hand. It was a clear night and the village was quiet, making Charity and Vanessa feel like they were the only two people in the world for a few minutes as the street lamps lit their way home beneath the moon and stars. Jacob’s Fold appeared before them as they arrived home and Vanessa knelt down and fumbled in the dark for the spare front door key that they had left beneath a flower pot earlier that day. It took her a moment to find it but soon enough she was back on her feet and had unlocked the door. “Wait, wait, wait” Charity called out, taking Vanessa by the hand and holding her back from going inside. “What?” Vanessa asked, jumping at her sudden words. Standing confused, Vanessa grinned but was baffled by Charity as she spun around with her eyes clenched shut. “What are you doing?” Vanessa chuckled. Charity continued to spin around a few more times before coming to a sudden stop, where she then slightly tilted her head to the side and landed a kiss perfectly upon Vanessa’s lips. Taken aback but not complaining, Vanessa allowed Charity to kiss her passionately on the doorstep for several minutes. “I knew I could do it right” She mumbled as their lips finally parted to draw breath. “What are you on about?” Vanessa chuckled, but without telling her why, or about what she was going to do next, Charity swooped Vanessa off her feet and cradled her in her arms. “Practicing for tomorrow” She finally said once she had found her balance, and as she did, she kicked the door open wide and carried her over the threshold. Vanessa swooned in Charity’s arms and expected to find her feet firmly on the ground again as they made it inside, but Charity picked up the pace, and leaving the door open, she climbed the stairs, carrying Vanessa straight to bed.  
Charity woke with a slight headache, and the sun had barely begun to rise in the sky as she turned over in bed. Memories from the night before came flooding back to her as she flitted between consciousness. Just as she smiled to herself at a joke, she remembered hearing at the pub, she sat bolt upright in bed. It was the morning of the wedding and she shouldn’t have been there, and it took all the will power she had not to turn her head and look at Vanessa who, thankfully, was still asleep and quietly snoring beside her as Charity rapidly came around and crept out of bed. Covering her eyes with her hand for extra support not to sneak a peek at her sleeping fiancé, Charity made her way to the bathroom. Panicking from behind the door she ran her fingers through her hair and paced the bathroom, not sure what to do next. She pulled her phone from her pocket, but the battery had died and only showed her her own anxious reflection and mascara rubbed eyes. “Perfect” she moaned, gritting her teeth and scowling at the phone. “Okay, not a big deal. I can just leave now” She pep talked to herself in the mirror, nodding in agreeance with herself. Upon the sink lay an opened pink lipstick which she clocked eyes with. Reaching for it, an idea came to mind. “Good Morning, I love you. Don’t be late.” Charity read aloud after writing those exact words upon the mirror and leaving behind a kiss from her lips. She quickly drew a heart and some swirls and popped the lipstick back upon the sink before silently creeping out of the bathroom. As she trudged down the stairs, careful not to step on that one step that creaked, she froze. Aside from the mess left over from the party, the living room was empty. Until it wasn’t. Voices sounded from the front door, which Charity didn’t remember actually closing the night before. Clear as day she could tell the conversation being had from the front garden was between Tracey and Rhona, who were in high spirits about the wedding. “I still don’t think we should have let her stay here alone last night” Tracey admitted. “She’s a big girl Trace, and it was hard for her to stay away from Charity. I think she just wanted to be at home, surrounded by her things”, “Yeah, I suppose you’re right. I wonder what state Charity got into last night” Tracey scoffed. “If I know Charity, she drank the pub dry and will be waking up in the bar; a barrel of nerves in need of another drink” Rhona chuckled as she used her own spare key to Jacob’s Fold, to unlock the door. Quickly, and without detection, Charity ran down the rest of the steps and managed to sneak out through the back door. And though Rhona had been wrong about her waking up in the bar, one thing she said was true, she was a barrel of nerves in need of a drink.  
“Where the hell have you been?” Chas’ voice boomed as Charity knocked on the door to be allowed into the pub. “I have been calling you all night. Please tell me you didn’t do anything stupid last night?”, Chas had fury and rage pouring from her eyes as she waited for Charity to shuffle in. “What? No!” Charity exclaimed, a little offended that she would think such a thing. “I was at home” she added, before Chas could jump to any more conclusions. “I just really wanted to see Ness last night, after almost being sick. She normally holds my hair back” Charity whimpered, feeling sorry for herself. Chas rolled her eyes and folded her arms high up on her chest. “Ha," Chas boasted, "I know, I saw you and your little wonder woman running away from me last night. And it's a good job really because you didn't reply to any of my texts, so I wouldn't have even known if you were alive or dead this morning”, ''Sorry, and it's rocket woman, not wonder woman” Charity muttered, ''Oh, yada yada yada. It’s alright, I get it. I'd probably have done the same with my Paddy. How are you feeling?” Chas asked, with a complete shift in tone. “Scared. Nervous. Excited. Scared” Charity admitted, blowing harshly from her mouth, which was as dry as a bone. “Get upstairs and have a wash. I’ll bring you up a drink. Now that I’ve done my job of finding the runaway bride, I can text Tracey back and not have to lie to her about your whereabouts after all” Chas called, her voice slightly trailing off in the distance as Charity climbed the stairs. She could still smell Vanessa on her clothes, and her skin and even though she would see her soon, she wondered, did she really need to take a bath and wash it away? Holding the thought, she glanced towards the clock, four hours to go.


	16. Vanessa

Chapter 16.

Vanessa

When she woke up, Vanessa turned over as she usually did, to kiss Charity good morning, but as she opened her eyes, she found herself in bed alone, so she came to the conclusion that Charity must have gotten up early without waking her. As she yawned and stretched, she could hear voices downstairs and the rustling of plastic bags. She strained her ear to hear who it was that was talking and making such a ruckus at seven o’clock in the morning. When the very moment she heard that it was in fact Tracey and Rhona’s voices drifting up the stairs, she realised that the day she had been counting down to for the longest time, was finally here. Similarly, to Charity, Vanessa leapt out of bed and ran to the top of the stairs. She too got to the halfway mark before she stopped frozen. Together, Tracey and Rhona looked up from the mess of discarded drinks and stray feathers that had been left behind from the hen party, to look at Vanessa. “I’m getting married today” Vanessa shouted, her voice started off excited and she had a smile on her face, but as the words left her mouth she instantly began to cry. Running to her, her best friend and sister embraced her lovingly as she sobbed a mixture of emotions upon their shoulders. “I’m getting married, today” She repeated, only this time a small bout of laughter followed as she began to wipe away her tears while her body coursed with a mixture of nerves and excitement. “Get that breakfast going” Tracey instructed Rhona as she hugged her sister tightly at the bottom of the stairs. “Righto” Rhona replied, with a thumbs up, feeling a little hungover and hungry but more than ready to kickstart the day with a good fry up. “I’m sorry” Vanessa sighed as she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror, now calming down. “Don’t be” Tracey gasped, shrugging and letting her know that it was natural for her to feel so emotional. As she did, her phone vibrated in her pocket. “Oh, it’s Chas. They’re all up and getting ready over there. Ryan’s on his way over with Johnny and she’s sending a bottle of Champagne with them” Tracey informed as she read from the text. “Result” Rhona exclaimed as she fried bacon and eggs over the hob.  
Just as Rhona finished cooking, Johnny was dropped off and brought inside, which gave Vanessa a few heart-warming moments with her son before they had to begin getting ready. Soon after they had eaten, the photographer arrived to snap some shots of them getting ready before the ceremony. As the photographer took plenty of photos of Mother and son, there was a knock at the door and in came the hairdresser and Moira, who had arrived at the same time. All was well and ready up at the farm and Matty and Victoria were overseeing everything else until the time came for the two brides to walk down the aisle. Hair and makeup took up two hours of the morning, making sure each of the bridesmaids were photo ready with pink lips and elegant updos. They seemed to be just ahead of schedule by the time Vanessa’s own hair was finished, and now that her makeup was underway, she had to try her best not to cry anymore tears, or else she would ruin her eye makeup and leave glistening track marks down her cheeks. Johnny had spent most of the morning playing on his mother's phone, missing his brothers, who were getting ready with Charity for the time being, but he especially missed his partner in crime, Moses. “It won’t be long now Johnnybobs, and we get to go and see the boys, and Mummy” She told her son, who was beginning to get a little restless and bored as all the attention he usually got from his Auntie, was being shown to his Mum instead. “Trace, why don’t you take Johnny over to the shop and get him some sweets. No chocolate though, I want to keep him as clean as I can for as long as I can” Vanessa suggested, trying desperately not to move her lips too much as her lipstick was gently applied with a thin brush, hoping that keeping her little one entertained throughout the morning would help keep him in high spirits as the hours went by. “Okay, how does that sound Johnny?” Tracey asked her nephew who immediately jumped up from the arm chair he was sitting in and ran to the door. “Won’t be long” She nodded to the others before they ducked out into the village.  
By the time they had returned, everything going on at home seemed to be ready and put in place and all that was left to do now was for the bride and bridesmaids to put on their dresses. Vanessa had been wrapped up in a white dressing gown all morning, and sat promptly upright in it upon the sofa, as she waited for Tracey, Moira and Rhona to arrive back downstairs in their dresses. “Three, two, one, open” The photographer counted backwards, instructing Vanessa when to open her eyes to see her bridesmaids stood before her, wedding ready so that he could snapshot her initial reaction. “Oh my God” She cried, blinking rapidly as she attempted to hold back her tears for one of the countless times that morning. The three women grinned from ear to ear, each feeling beautiful in their own way as they received Vanessa’s compliments of how gorgeous they looked. The room filled once again with flashing lights from the photographer's camera as he captured each moment and emotion in the room, including a candid photo of Johnny laughing at the women as they cried and hugged one another. “Johnny’s turn” Rhona called out as the five-year-old, shyly peeked up over his hand that had attempted to hide his snigger beforehand. Baring all of his little white teeth, Johnny beamed as he was led upstairs by Vanessa who wanted to dress her son herself. With the photographer respectfully waiting to capture the moment between mother and son, Vanessa fastened Johnny into his suit, while Tracey unzipped Vanessa’s dress from the keep safe bag in her wardrobe. “Now, don’t you look handsome?” Vanessa gasped as Johnny twirled and jumped around, suited and booted in his designer suit. Then she kissed him gently on the head and turned around, to see Tracey waiting with her dress. “I can’t even describe to you how I’m feeling, right now” Vanessa confessed to her sister. Tracey had been just as emotional as Vanessa all day, and was really testing her ability not to cry as she helped her into her dress. “I wish Dad could have been here” she muttered, thinking of Frank, who would have been over the moon for his daughter. “And, my Mum” She added, thinking about how sad she was that both her parents weren’t going to be there to see her walk down the aisle to her bride on her special day. “I’m sure your mum has her reasons for not making the journey here” Tracey said in a soothing voice. “She said she couldn’t afford to travel. Charity and I offered to pay for her, but she wouldn’t accept the offer. You know how stubborn she can be”, “It’s a bit spiteful if you ask me”, “Yeah well, at least I don’t have to feel bad about having my mother there while Charity’s father is a no show”, “What’s his excuse for not coming?”, “He doesn’t have one. She didn’t invite him. I don’t think he even knows we’re getting married” Vanessa shrugged. “Oh well. You’ve got me, and I’m sure Dad will be looking down on us, wherever he is” Tracey admitted, giving Vanessa a quick squeeze. “To Dad” she added, picking up their almost empty glasses of fizz. “To Dad” Vanessa smiled weakly.  
“Alright, are you ready?” Tracey asked as she arrived back downstairs. Everyone was excited to see Vanessa in full bride mode, and together they sat in a bubble of mixed adrenaline as she and Johnny made their way down to the living room. “Oh, Ness” Rhona gasped, as she saw her best friend nervously, yet excitedly, appear before them, beautiful from head to toe. “You look amazing,” Moira announced, not able to take her eyes off her as she glowed, radiant. “I feel amazing” Vanessa told them, half laughing as she clenched her fists at her sides, not knowing how to shake out the bottle of pop feeling that was building up inside her. Tracey gathered together all the finalising accessories as the others hugged and kissed the bride. She gently removed the lid from the box where their bouquets had been kept, and carefully handed them out. The bridesmaids had flowers that corresponded with each other's dresses. Those wearing pink, carried lilac roses, and those dressed in lilac carried pink roses, whereas Vanessa’s bouquet consisted of a mixture of both colours, along with a few wisps of baby’s breath. Together the flowers meant joy, happiness, longevity, love and romance, all the things that Charity and Vanessa longed to feel for one another throughout their wedding day, marriage and for the rest of their lives. As the commotion around the beautiful scented flowers died down, Vanessa’s thoughts lingered with Charity, and she wondered if she was feeling equally as excited and nervous as she was. As she stood daydreaming of her bride, there was a knock at the door. “I’ll get it,” Rhona announced, already halfway to the door as she spoke. “Oh, hi boys. What are you doing here? Everything’s ok isn't it?” She gasped, as Noah and Moses shifted nervously on the doorstep. “Yeah, everything’s great. We were just wondering if we could have a minute with Vanessa?” Noah explained. “Oh, thank God,” Rhona breathed a sigh of relief, clutching her chest after worrying that something had gone wrong for them to turn up unannounced. “Ness, it’s for you” She then added, calling across the room. Vanessa pulled a face as she wondered who it could be. Picking up the hem of her dress, she made her way over to the door, passing Rhona as she gave them some privacy. “Wow” Noah gasped, as Vanessa arrived in the doorway. “You look like a princess” Moses blurted out, pointing at her in awe. Vanessa’s heart fluttered at the little boy's honesty. “Awh, thank you Moses” She cooed, bending over to kiss him like she had done with Johnny. “Everything okay?” Vanessa asked, as Rhona had. “Yeah. We just wondered, if you’d like to have your photo taken with us?” Noah asked sheepishly, bouncing from one foot to the other as he waited for an answer. Vanessa’s heart smiled. “Of course, I’d love to take a picture with my boys” She told, pulling them both in for a hug. The photographer had overheard what was going on and appeared ready, with camera in hand, and little Johnny at his side too. Together, they stepped out into the garden and posed, smiling widely as the flash flickered away, taking multiple shots. “Now, let's do a silly one” The photographer suggested. Vanessa and her three boys, pulled faces and poked out their tongues and laughed as the photographer snapped away. “Perfect” He announced, having got the shots he was happy with. “Right, we better go. Our car will be arriving any minute now” Noah exclaimed, checking his watch for the time. “Okay, see you there” Vanessa grinned, watching as Noah and Moses hurried back to the pub, now even more excited to make their little family official. With a glance towards the clock, the butterflies in her stomach fluttered and danced as she realised the time. One hour to go.


	17. Charity

Chapter 17.

Charity

“I’m going to be sick” Charity blurted out as she looked out of the window to see her cars arrive, both of them parked up outside the pub with white ribbons wrapped upon the bonnets. “You’re not, you’re fine” Debbie told her mother, who was a barrel of nerves and had locked herself in the bathroom for the last half an hour. “Will you just, let me in, please” Debbie asked, slowly losing her patience as she wiggled the doorknob forcibly, again. Charity fell silent but quickly slid the bolt across and finally allowed her daughter in, but slammed the door shut again once she stepped inside. “Look” Charity spat, holding out her hand to show it teetering from side to side as she proved just how on edge she was feeling. “What if she doesn’t come, Debs?” She asked, her eyes widening at the pure fear of Vanessa possibly changing her mind about marrying her at the last minute. “Mum, stop it” Debbie instructed sternly, pulling her in for a quick hug to take her mind off the intrusive thoughts that flew in and out of her head. “You’re being silly” Debbie added, “I know, but if I could just talk to her-?” Charity began, but Debbie interrupted her. “Vanessa loves you, alright? And in about” She paused to look at her watch, “an hour from now, she’s going to be walking down the aisle, ready to become your wife” she added, her words soft and gentle so not to wind her mother up any more. Charity’s worry flowed from her lips in a sing-song fashion as she murmured a reply, incoherently, when a gentle knock rapped upon the door. Having darted around the pub looking for them, Noah had finally heard the voices of his Mother and sister coming from the upstairs bathroom. “There you are, the cars are here” he told them, slightly out of breath as he’d ran all the way back to the pub from Jacob’s Fold, with Moses in his arms, in fear that they’d be late if they’d walked back. “Where’ve you been?” Debbie asked, noticing in his voice that he’d been running. With his chest rising and falling quickly, Noah panted, “Popped home for a bit” He shrugged, not wanting to willingly give up his reason for disappearing, when he was supposed to have been waiting to flag down the wedding cars with Ryan. Charity’s eyes flickered at the mention of their home. “You’ve been home? Have you seen Ness?” She asked, her voice slipping into a slight croak. “Yeah, me and Moses went to see her. Don’t worry, it’s not bad luck for us to have seen her before the wedding, just you” Noah told, unaware that his mother had been panicking all morning. “What was she doing?” Charity asked, anticipation racing with her words. Noah turned his head to the side, confused. “She’d just finished getting ready and was waiting to leave when we got there” He explained, unsure why his mother was shouting. “You see?” Debbie sighed, relieved that Noah had been able to unknowingly save the day. “Is everything ok?” Noah asked as he sensed his sister's relief from behind the door. “Everything’s fine. Mum’s being a diva” Debbie joked as the colour finally started to return to Charity’s cheeks, along with a small smile as she thought about Vanessa waiting patiently in her dress, the complete opposite of how she herself had been acting. “Can you go and tell the driver we’ll be down in just a minute, please?” Debbie instructed Noah, who had run around doing as he was told all morning, and saw no stopping in the running of errands any time soon. “Okay” He sighed, and pushed off the wall, running out of the pub once again. “Here, drink this” Debbie insisted, passing Charity the warm glass of champagne that she had been holding all this time. “Oh, cheers” Charity spoke with a dry mouth, throwing back the warm bubbly and pulling a face as it tingled in the back of her throat. “Right lady, you’re ready, and the rest of us are too. So, let's get a shift on and not keep Vanessa waiting. The last thing we need is her turning up before us and thinking you’ve bolted”, “Like I’d do that to her” Charity scoffed. Debbie shook her head. “Then why do you think she’d do it to you?”, “Because”, “Because, what?”, “Because I don’t know Debs, because I’m this close to finally getting my happily ever after and I don’t want anything to screw it up”, “Well, if anything’s going to screw today up, it’s you, having a pity party in here, so suck it up, and get to that Church”, “Farm” Charity corrected her, timidly, “Farm” Debbie shouted, throwing her hands in the air in frustration. “Ok, ok yeah, you’re right” Charity nodded, psyching herself up. “Finally,” Debbie sighed, wishing she’d had another drink in hand for herself. Charity turned and took one last look at herself in the mirror that hung over the sink and then unlocked and opened the door, coming face to face with Chas, who’s fist was clenched and about to knock. “Why are we all in here?” Chas asked, confused, as she popped her head around the corner to find her cousins hanging around the toilet. “Peeing” Charity blurted out. “Right” Chas smiled shyly, “Well, the cars are here” She told them, still a little confused as to why they’d taken so long to ‘pee’. “Right, well, if you’ll excuse me, I have a wedding to get to” Charity announced, and raced out of the room to find Noah so that he could reconfirm that Vanessa was definitely, definitely, coming. “Don’t ask” Debbie murmured as she caught Chas’ eye while they watched as Charity traipsed down the stairs and out of the pub.  
The drivers of the hired cars had been sat upon the bench chatting as they waited for the wedding party to arrive at the vehicles. Charity’s photographer, the other half of the photographer currently snapping pictures at Jacob’s Fold, stood beaming with a wide toothy grin as she stood leaned over a tripod. Noah, Moses and Ryan looked up from a tablet they had been playing video games on to catch their first glimpse of their mother, who arrived in the beer garden, seemingly a different person than she had been moments ago in the bathroom. As Charity revealed herself and her dress to her sons for the first time, Noah gasped, his jaw dropping open as he furiously swallowed past a lump that formed in his throat. A slight breeze sifted between each person and caused dresses and trouser legs to dance as the wind gently blew through the village. Charity pushed a lock of hair from her face and smiled at her sons. “You look, amazing” The teenager confessed to his mother, as a sense of pride pulled at his heart strings. “Thanks, kid” Charity mouthed back. “Do I scrub up alright?” She asked, shrugging as Ryan too smiled at the sight of her. “You scrub up great” He nodded vigorously. Moses on the other hand, jumped up and down on the spot. “Another Princess” He shouted, pointing at Charity. “What?” Charity giggled, “It’s what he called Vanessa just now” Noah mentioned, “and he was right, she did look like a princess, and she was so excited” He added, thinking back on how Vanessa had glowed just talking about even the smallest of things that morning. Knowing that a waterworks show was about to kick off, Chas swooped in and rubbed Charity’s arm and pulled her towards the cars. “Uh-uh” She warned her, “Save that for later. Smile” Chas spoke in an uplifting whisper into Charity’s ear after Debbie had told her how she had been fretting. Charity smiled nervously as she held out her hand to receive her bouquet from Sarah who ran out of the pub, looking more grown up than ever in her bridesmaid dress. “Can I get a photo of the bride, please, and then can everybody hang around for a photo of the bridesmaids, then mother and sons please?” The photographer asked, before briefly blinding everybody with her flash bulb for a few minutes, taking photos from many angles and heights. While everyone smiled and posed, across the village the faint bells of a clock chimed to signal the time, revealing that it was precisely eleven o’clock. Heart thudding, Charity turned to Debbie and Chas who assured her, once again, that everything was going to be fine and then quickly bundled her into the leading car with Noah. Charity turned to Debbie through the open window. “Thank you” She nodded to her daughter. “See you up there” Debbie whispered, then planted a kiss upon her cheek and gave her hand a quick squeeze as the driver started the engine.  
All the way up to the farm Charity held on tightly to Noah, who so far had perfectly encouraged and humoured his mother, calming her down as she once again felt the unmistakable fluttering of butterflies in her stomach as they grew closer and closer to the venue. “Do you remember when you and Vanessa first got together? I thought it was a joke and that you’d be over within a week” Noah mentioned as he sensed Charity’s mind drift away out of the window. Charity slowly turned to her son, “You were so mean to her” She scorned, pulling the memory from the back of her mind. “I know. She was so annoying, making me breakfast and trying to make me laugh” He joked, realising now that Vanessa had done nothing but try to be a positive influence in his life the whole time. “You thought you could take her for a mug” Charity added, laughing quietly at Noah’s expense. “Well, I didn’t know she was as crazy as you, until it was too late” Noah shrugged, laughing along with his Mother. As they giggled, they locked eyes once more. “I’m so glad you found each other” Noah quickly slipped into the conversation. “Me too, Ness is pretty great, isn’t she?” She smiled. Noah nodded. “Come here” Charity whimpered, and hugged her son tight in a world of their own as the car slowly came to a stop. A playlist of Charity’s and Vanessa’s favourite songs could be heard quietly playing for the guests from across the farm as mother and son stepped out into the open. If everything had gone to plan and both brides were ready on time, it meant Vanessa would be arriving in roughly fifteen minutes, giving Charity just enough time to soak up some compliments and words of encouragement from her family. “How are you feeling?” Chas asked with a hopeful smile, “You know what? I feel great. I can’t wait to get in there now” Charity admitted, nodding towards the barn. “Well, in that case, after you” Chas grinned, pointing the way up ahead. Noah cleared his throat and held out his arm for Charity to take. Linking at the elbow, he led the way, proud to be walking his mother down the aisle.  
The barn had gone under a full makeover in the last couple of days, meaning Moira and a few of the others in the family had spent hours hanging up fairy lights and streams of ribbons from the thick wooden beams of the ceiling inside. Charity had half expected the guests to be perched upon bales of hay, but as she arrived at the open doors, she could see everybody inside were sat in regular wooden chairs, separated by a makeshift aisle upon which a carpet had been rolled out from one end of the barn to the other. The same aisle that in just a few moments time, Vanessa would be walking down. Just ahead of where she was standing, Harriet stood behind a podium adorned with roses and candles, as she waited for Charity to come inside. As if she’d had a sixth sense, Harriet looked up from her notes and noticed Charity calling her attention from the side door. Wanting her entrance to be as low key as possible, so as to give Vanessa the special moment she deserved, Charity, Noah, and her bridesmaids, entered from the back door and walked the few short steps into the centre of the barn, capturing everyone’s attention as they appeared before them. The front row was filled with Dingle faces and erupted into a round of applause and smiles all around as Charity looked out at hers and Vanessa’s family and friends who had all come to share, and celebrate, their special day with them. Charity inhaled and exhaled deeply as the noise died down before taking Harriet’s microphone to greet them all. “Wow, Hi” She began, her nerves kicking up a fuss in the pit of her stomach as all eyes fell upon her. “Thank you all so much for coming, and for getting here on time. Vanessa will be here soon. I think, I hope. So, I’ll keep this short, like her. I’m nervous, can you tell?” She asked, her breath catching in the back of her throat as she spoke with a nervous stammer. A few guests laughed as she momentarily lost her train of thought, staring out of the open doors waiting to see her bride's figure appear in the light. “We really appreciate you being here and I’m sure you’ll hear that in more detail later on, but for now please join me in waiting for the world's most beautiful bride to walk down that aisle and do what all those who came before her couldn’t do; make an honest woman out of me” Charity grinned, then nodded shyly as she handed back the microphone.  
Barely any time seemed to pass by as Harriet and the guests perked up and began to turn in their seats, having heard the sound of an oncoming vehicle outside. “Oh my God” Charity muttered, catching Harriet’s attention, again. “Sorry” She added as the Vicar raised an eyebrow at her choice of words. “It’s time” Sarah squealed with delight as it was now obvious to everybody that Vanessa had arrived. Debbie and Moses quickly took a seat in the front row with an empty seat the other side of them where Johnny would soon sit too. While the bridesmaids excitedly stood in line behind Charity, Noah slipped his hand into his mums and gave it a squeeze. Already growing teary eyed, Charity squeezed Noah’s hand back tightly, as they showed their love for one another without having to say a word. Charity’s gaze fixated upon one of the roses on the podium, her heart pounding against her chest, and her back turned to the aisle, as Harriet spoke aloud. “Ladies and Gentlemen, please be upstanding for the bride.”


	18. Vanessa

This was it, the moment of truth. Vanessa took a deep breath as Rhona made sure the back of her dress hadn’t creased and was laid out perfectly and aligned with her veil as they approached the barn. It looked beautiful beneath the clouded blue sky and from where she was standing, she could just about make out flickering candles and the glow of yellow fairy lights inside the usually dimly lit barn. “Are you ready?” Tracey asked, appearing at Vanessa’s side. “Yeah” Vanessa smiled, as a fiery warm feeling began to tingle inside her while she embraced the last few seconds of being a Woodfield. “Are you sure? Cause if you don’t want to go ahead with this, now’s the time to say so” Rhona added, reappearing from behind, to make sure that Vanessa was really ready to spend the rest of her life with Charity. “I’ve never wanted anything more,” Vanessa confessed. “I thought so” Rhona grinned, hugging her tightly. “She’s going to be a handful” Moira pointed out, with a raised eyebrow. Vanessa stifled a laugh. “I know, but she’s my handful” She told them with a smile. They huddled together before readying themselves to go inside with deep breaths and hand holding, until Harriet gave them the nod. Johnny took hold of Rhona’s hand as Tracey took Vanessa’s arm, proud to be walking down the aisle with her sister. Then putting her best foot forward, Vanessa stepped into the doorway and felt the eyes of everyone inside, fall upon her. Immediately, she found herself looking across the room, to Charity, who was smiling at her in a way that showed the complete love and adoration she felt for her, upon her face for all to see. Instantly, a single tear fell from each of Vanessa’s eyes as she became overwhelmed with happiness as she grew closer and closer, until she finally arrived at the foot of the aisle. Without a single second's hesitation, Charity drew Vanessa into an embrace that had their guests tear up with them, while they completely lost themselves in pure and inundated love. “You look so gorgeous” Vanessa sobbed quietly into Charity’s ear as she held her tight, and for a moment, the world faded away and they almost forgot that they were being watched. “How did I get so lucky to have you? You’re absolutely beautiful” Charity whimpered back, trying her best not to cry and ruin her makeup as they swayed, together.  
“You may be seated” Harriet announced to the guests, forcing Charity and Vanessa to find themselves once again, back in the room. As they loosened their grip upon one another, the ceremony began. “Welcome, to everyone, Family and friends and all those who fall in between. We are gathered here today to celebrate the union of Charity and Vanessa, as we support them and share in their love and joy as they choose to spend their lives together.” Harriet began, her words sounding like poetry as her voice wavered and fell as she spoke. Vanessa could feel herself getting lost in Charity’s eyes as the ceremony progressed and Harriet spoke about love and respect and how important it was to commit and share in both sorrow and joy as they entered into matrimony. “Now, I ask for you, Charity, and you, Vanessa, to please join hands and face one another” Harriet asked, with a smile as she watched as Charity took hold of Vanessa’s hand, and gently rubbed her thumb over her knuckles as they waited to say their vows. “Do you, Charity, take Vanessa, to be your wife?”, “I do” Charity announced, with a steady nod as her voice filled the barn and tears filled her eyes. “Vanessa, do you take Charity to be your wife?” Harriet asked. “I do” Vanessa told, her voice barely more than a whisper as she desperately tried to hold herself together. “Charity, If you would like to say your vows, now” Harriet stated as she turned to her with a smile. Charity inhaled deeply as she readied herself to speak aloud the vows that she had written back at Tug Ghyll, with a quick glance to Tracey, who was already silently blubbering beside their friends. “Ness, Babe, you have turned my world inside out and upside down,” She began, but had to pause as a few people chuckled quietly to themselves at her words. Turning to those she suspected of interrupting her, Charity raised an eyebrow, playfully, before returning her focus to Vanessa. “You once told me that you thought I was amazing, at a time when I felt anything but, and I can’t thank you enough for that. For sticking around through all my faults, flaws and failures, but loving me anyway, through it all. You’re the reason for my smile and my happiness, and for all the confidence and bravery I now feel, since having you in my life. You are the reason that I wake up every morning knowing that I can face anything that comes my way, and I thank my lucky stars every day that we were locked in the cellar together that night, because it has taken me on the most incredible journey and led me down a road that I never thought I’d get to travel down. A road to true love. I can honestly say that I am a better person for knowing you, and for loving you. You have shown me what it is like to wake up to an absolutely beautiful, perfect life, and I really hope that one day I can make you even half as happy as you make me. You’re the best partner, Mum, sister and friend that anyone could have, and somehow as of today, I’ll be lucky enough to be the person who gets love you, and kiss you and...you for the rest of our lives” She stopped, momentarily widening her eyes and dropping her gaze to fill in the blank her vows left out. While Vanessa, up until this moment, had smiled and nodded along to every word Charity had said, feeling her vows touch the bottom of her heart, until she pieced two and two together, causing her to blush in a way that only Charity could achieve, but she didn’t care to be embarrassed because it was true, and because she had once again drifted away into a world where nobody else existed besides the two of them. “And while I’ll always be imperfect, bossy and loud, I promise in front of all these people here today, that I will always love, and cherish you. That I will always do my best by you and for you. And will never again take a day in my life for granted, for as long as I have you by my side, holding my hand” Charity finished, her vision nothing but a blur as she spoke from the heart. Not yet allowing her tears to fall, Vanessa gently dabbed at her eyes and breathed a quiet sob to herself, as she became overwhelmed with emotion, resting her head upon Charity’s chest. “Wow, how am I supposed to follow that?” She asked in a whimper as she processed the last of Charity’s heartfelt words. After a short breather, she stood tall and looked into Charity’s eyes once more. “Charity Dingle, you’re right. You are imperfect, bossy and loud, but you are also funny, and loving and so beautiful that I often find myself speechless just looking at you.” As her eyes welled once again with tears, she wavered, summoning the strength to get through her vows in one piece. “For a long time before you came into my life, I felt lost. I was constantly wondering who I really was and what was going to come next, and while none of us know what's waiting around the corner, the one thing I do know is that with you I am warm, safe, and at home. And I will always be here at your side, to hold your hand, loving and protecting you, as I know you will be for me, too.” Vanessa glanced towards the dozens of people watching them before continuing with a heartfelt smile. “I know we are not the only ones who didn’t see this coming” she chuckled, taking hold of Charity’s other hand so that she now held both of them tightly in her own. “But it is so obvious that we were meant to be together. So, I vow, to love you always, when you’re angry or sad, and on bad days as well as good, because that’s what families do, and that’s what we are, You, Me and our beautiful, amazing kids, and I couldn’t be prouder to say that. I don’t know what I’d do without you. You are my best friend, and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you. And I will stupidly and completely love you, forever and ever” Vanessa choked back tears as she shared her heart and true feelings with her love and all of their family and friends. It seemed there wasn’t a dry eye in the building as the barn filled with the sound of discreet sniffles and the cooing of those touched by what they had witnessed and heard. “Such beautiful words from both of you that show what a marriage is to represent. And what better way to signify that you belong to one another, than with a ring, the symbol of an infinite and unbreakable love. Can I ask Moses and Johnny to join us, please?” Harriet announced, asking up the two young boys who’d been so excited to play their part in their mummy’s wedding day. Having made sure, the rings were somewhere safe until the time came, Debbie handed over a small, golden ring to each child to present at the end of the aisle. “Thank you” Vanessa whispered to Johnny as he slipped his ring into her hand, while Moses carefully handed over his to Charity. “Charity, take this ring and place it on Vanessa’s finger. And repeat after me. “Vanessa, I give you this ring as a symbol of the promise I made to you today” Harriet read aloud as Charity repeated with pride. Carefully, the gold ring slipped onto Vanessa’s finger and glistened beautifully against her engagement ring. “Vanessa, please repeat after me. Charity, I give you this ring as a symbol of the promise I made to you today” Harriet spoke again, once more her words repeated, this time by Vanessa, as she glided her ring onto Charity’s finger, while her hand shook with excitement. “Having pledged your love and promise to one another today in front of all of your friends and loved ones, by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you married, and present you as Mrs and Mrs Dingle. You may kiss” Harriet declared, emotion filling in her own voice as she stood back, proud that she was able to marry two people, truly in love. “Come here, you” Charity mouthed as she and Vanessa pulled one another close. As their lips locked, so did their bodies as they stood wrapped up in one another, their hands holding on tightly to each other's face as they shared their first kiss as a married couple. Passionately, they smooched, feeling their smiles breaking out beneath it, birthing a few extra kisses that bubbled from excitement and pure joy, while their friends and family rose from their seats and applauded. When they eventually broke away, Charity and Vanessa turned to face their guests for the first time, with proud and loving smiles upon their faces, hand in hand, never happier than they were in that exact moment.


End file.
